First off I need to give a shout out and a huge thank you to my friend Sarah and her husband Doug. Over the past few days the two of them have hung out at my apartment while Sarah and I finished editing and revising Divide and Conquest. We really wanted to get the book finished earlier for you guys, so a few long nights with beer and pizza and whammy! As of last night, D & C is ready for upload.
My goal today is to get all the small stuff taken care of - keywords, description, and pricing set so I can upload the final product. Look for book 4 to be out as sooner as maybe tomorrow afternoon.
That doesn't mean I'm going to cheap out on the chapter 2 preview, no way. Plus I already have a ton of emails about both Derrick and book 3, Feast or Famine. So on with the show as the say, and enjoy chapter 2.
The two of us were whipped into a
frenzy. If Jacoby and Balrog were here,
that meant Sabrina was close by too.
Philadelphia was my city and if she was here, I’d find her. Just as I was about to storm the city,
Roxanne grabbed my arm. “Derrick, what
about Oz? He could be in danger.”
Father of the year goes to me, the
guy who forgot his own child in a fit of bloodlust. “Shit, you’re right. We’ll have to split up, one of us goes and
gets him while the other starts hunting down any leads.”
“She’s my daughter; I’ll track her
down.”
There was no talking Roxanne out of
this. Especially after what Sabrina did
to her in Iran all those years ago.
“Fine, but take Khloros too. I’ll
feel better if you’re with him.”
I tossed her the keys which she
caught with a deft hand. With
determination, she got into the driver’s seat and Khloros’s engine roared to
life. Together the two of them were
pretty good. My fear of something bad
happening went down… slightly.
I headed up the street in the
direction of Oz’s friend Jesse’s house.
Call me a bad parent again, but I never met Jesse’s parents, just the
boy himself. He was a redheaded kid with
leprechaun like eyes, aka, he looked like he was always about to get into
trouble. However, the two of them never
did, so I was cool with them hanging out.
Not really paying much attention as
I turned the corner, a large blast of brimstone hit me. I stopped in my tracks – it was still early
afternoon and the streets were full of walkers and bystanders. Where in the blue blazes was that smell
coming from? I looked all around me,
trying not to look like a nut job, finding it hard to pinpoint the epicenter of
the brimstone.
As my gaze came back around closer,
boom there it was. Sitting on the other
side of the glass in a coffee shop was none other than Belial. An Arch-Demon right here in downtown Philly
having a drink of coffee. What next?
He motioned at me to come in and
join him. I was still quite worried
about Oz, but remembering this thing called a cell phone, I shot him a quick
text. ‘Hey, it’s dad. Let me know you’re okay.’
Stuffing my phone back in my
pocket, I opened the door and went to meet a demon. No one else seemed to notice what was amongst
them; the other patrons were happily drinking their brews and listening to
hippy music. I sat down across from
Belial and a young girl asked me if I wanted anything. “Yeah, can I get just a regular coffee with
some sugar?”
She took my order and left. Biting my lip as to not unleash a tirade of
profanity, “Strange day isn’t it?”
He straightened the tie under his
jacket. “If you mean this meeting between
the two of us, then yes. If you’re
talking about the witch who is toying with you, than no.” His voice rumbled like a bass drum.
Demons always had a high fashion
sense. Nothing like me and my board
shorts and unbuttoned plaid shirt. “If
you have something to say, just get on with it.”
He took a sip of his coffee, his
black eyes never leaving me. “You have
been out of touch for a long time Reaper.
There is much information you need to know.”
I looked back at my phone, nothing
yet from Oz. “Listen, I don’t have all
day…”
“Patience Death, your son is out of
harm’s way. Lucifer himself is seeing to
that while we speak.”
My phone buzzed; I got a message
back from Oz that everything was A-Okay.
I swallowed hard. “What cares
does Lucifer have with my boy or me for that matter?”
The Arch-Demon snapped his fingers
and everyone all at once left the coffee shop, including the staff. The last guy on the way out flipped the sign
from open to closed. Locking the door,
just the two of us were left. “A war is coming,
one that has not been seen in millennia.”
He brushed his hand over the table
and it lit up. It was a map of
Hell. “The witch Sabrina has conquered
Beelzebub’s and Astaroth’s old territories.
Baal is currently fighting her off as we speak, but it does not look
good for him.”
“By war, are we talking
Armageddon? Have the seals been broken?”
He shook his head. “No, the seals are intact. This is a war not predicted by any of the
prophets. This is a war against the
Celestials.”
Celestials – angels, demons,
Horsemen. “Sabrina is out to wipe us all
off the playing field.”
“Yes, that is her goal, from what
we can tell.” By his look, I got the
feeling the other shoe was about to drop.
“In the midst of the fighting in Hell, a small platoon broke off and
invaded Eden.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “What happened?”
“The battle took place last
night. From what I understand it was a
small skirmish involving the Minotaur King, Balrog, an unknown demon clad in
black versus the three Horsemen and a squadron of angels.” The unknown black demon had to be
Jacoby. “The fighting stopped when
Balrog broke off a piece of the Tree of Life and the Horseman Conquest was
captured.”
“My brother, captured?!” Rage washed over me and I flipped over the
nearest table. “FUCK!”
Belial stay calmed and continued to
drink his coffee. “The worst part is
they sealed Eden shut. War and Famine
are trapped there until the seal can be reversed.”
“Where did they take Conquest?”
“An angel by the name of Veronica
located him early this morning. He is in
an old prison in Russia called the Gulag.
There is quite the force keeping that place under guard.”
“Isn’t the Gulag controlled by
angels?”
He tried to smile, but I could tell
it was bad news. “Sabrina has taken it
over. She started a mutiny amongst the
prisoners and killed what forces of Heaven tried to resist.” He gave a halfhearted stir of his
coffee. “Most of those creatures were
vile enough that Hell wasn’t even sorry to see them captured.”
I fell back into my seat. Not really caring too much, “And the piece of
the Tree of Life? What did they need
that for?”
For the first time this whole
meeting, Belial shifted uncomfortably.
“She wishes to do something only Beelzebub dreamed of – invade Heaven.”
“Isn’t that something you all can
get behind? I mean, that sounds like an
Arch-Demon scheme.”
The Arch-Demon seemed to be taking
his time on this one. “Arch-Demons like
to talk a rather big game, but we know going after the Almighty would end
poorly for us. This is not a battle to
be taken lightly.”
“So if your territories fall, with
the minor demons follow her lead?”
“Depending on how she gains
control, there is a good possibility she could marshal the troops of Hell into
invading Heaven.”
Foolish demons, always wanting to
kill things. “Hopefully this isn’t a
problem we need to worry about. When I
free Conquest from the Gulag, we can go from there.”
I got the sense from him that our
meeting was coming to an end. He reached
into his pocket and pulled out a scroll.
As soon as he placed it on the table, it rolled out for me to read. “This is a treaty, signed by all remaining
Arch-Demons in blood with Lucifer as witness.
We propose peace between us and the Horsemen in exchange for help.”
Very carefully, I read over the
scroll, written in a very ancient dialect of Ozkavosh, or the Demon
Language. There were no catches, hooks,
or fine print. These guys must’ve really
been up shit creek without a paddle. “So
in exchange for getting rid of Sabrina, you guys leave me alone for good?”
“It is as you say Death.” He pointed to an empty space below their
signatures. “If you sign the treaty in
blood as well, we will honor the peace agreement immediately, only to be broken
if you fail or choose not to finish your bargain.”
I pulled out Leviathan and brought
my weapon to life. Using the edge of the
blade, I nicked my finger drawing blood.
In the space below, I put my name with theirs. “Our interest is mutual in this venture. This job will be far from easy and without
help, it will take some time.”
“We know, that is why we’ve given
no end date to the contract.” Well
wasn’t that thoughtful of them?
“However, do not come for us for help.
As our kingdoms are under siege, our forces must remain.”
I wasn’t counting on that
anyway. What did bother me is where
Sabrina got her force from. “How did she
gather an army so quickly?”
“It has been fifteen years
Death! I know in terms of our lifespans,
that is but a blink of the eye, but to gather an army? It was more than enough time.”
He paced around the table. “She started off by enslaving most of the
minor demons, the Minotaurs, the Nyxes, and the Yeti just to name a few.” All powerful beings, that was for sure. “She claimed her birthright by taking the
throne of Beelzebub’s kingdom and inherited his force. Then with the conquering of Astaroth’s former
kingdom, her force expanded yet again.”
I saw where this was going and why
Hell’s services were out of the question.
“I got a few friends I can still call on, I think.” Besides Khloros and Roxanne, there was a
certain Pride demon that I fought beside once before I thought of. “But my first order of business is to break
my brother out of the Gulag.”
“Going there will cause you to face
your greatest fear, so I caution you to beware.” He snapped his fingers and the closed sign on
the door flipped over to open. In only a
matter of time, humans would be returning to the café.
The scroll rolled back up and flew
into Belial’s hand. “But that’s what we
expected from you.” He looked at the watch
on his left wrist. “I’ve been away from
my kingdom for long enough and must return to shore up the defense. Good luck Reaper, in both endeavors. You will need it.”
-Jack
jack.crosby25@gmail.com
