“Abraham Kane. You just got back from a tiring mission, I believe. You don’t need to be here, I’m not assigning any other mission to y…”
“You know exactly why I’m here, Nicholas.”
The Chief Priest looked at me, a little shock visible on his face before a frown formed. His two guards looked on angrily, as anyone would have if they saw a subordinate call the high and mighty leader of this order by his first name. They drew their swords and began to approach me menacingly.
“I’m not playing along with this façade anymore. Tell your dogs to stand down, or I’ll send their heads flying,” I said, drawing my sword as well. “This is between me and you, you lying, sanctimonious b*stard.”
The scowl on the faces of the guards was still there, but neither of them moved an inch closer. I was known as the best swordsman in the past two generations, but what was feared more was my lack of hesitancy in cutting down whatever I deemed fit.
“You know…” Nicholas said, a sly grin forming on his face as he stood up. “…there’s something about your family. You, your dad; you all had it in common. An inability to stick to your own businesses and stay out of trouble.”
My ears piqued. “What did you just say? You just talked about my father, what did you mean by that?”
He drew his sword suddenly, swinging it across the air. The heads of his guards fell from their bodies, which crumpled to a heap on the ground. Blood sprayed on him and on the ground. I stood there, shocked to the marrow. I had no idea he was this cold-hearted and deep in vice.
“There was no reason for them to hear and be witnesses to all this. When I’m done, I’ll pin it on you, who’ll be dead. Isn’t that perfect?”
He was still advancing towards me slowly, and I knew I had to attack first. He was 50, roughly 12 years older than me. He’d become the Priest two weeks after my father’s death, so how could he possibly know about…
“You seem surprised, Abraham. That’s not the Exorcist I trained. I told you that there will always be secrets within secrets; codes within codes. There are things meant only for those in the upper echelon to know; these things are more or less the administrative aspects of this order. You are just our arms and legs. You are to execute the instructions given to you without questioning them. And that’s how we’ve continued to operate smoothly over the centuries.”
There were only a few yards between us now, and I knew that he’d attack immediately he was done talking. I was barely listening to him, my mind occupied with thinking of possible scenarios and attacks he could use, and what my counter would be.
“The problems arise when some people don’t know how to stay in their place. After centuries of our operation, it was your father who was the first to uncover this secret of our letting the demons loose. We allow them to ‘ripen’ and develop in Human bodies, successfully destroying their first host…”
I knew the rest. “But because they themselves are unable to leave the first host, you allow us to exorcise them. Then, their bodies will become accustomed to the workings of the human body, so when they possess another victim, they can alter the body spiritually and physically and take over, thus allowing them to physically manifest and wreak havoc, right?”
His brows furrowed as he looked at me intently. “Just how much do you know?”
“You’ve underestimated me all these years, Nicholas. And I’ve allowed my senses to dull a bit. But your chances of redemption have run out. God has exposed you, and here and now, I will purge this order of the evil that has occupied it for too long. You, and all the other Chief Priest’s before you have done this world a huge disfavor by using us as pawns…”
“Shut up with your righteous God talk! Who trained you in this order? Who gave you the chances you’re now exploiting to come before me so brazenly?! Me! I did! I am your god!”
“This order was built on nothing but lies. I have no ties to it now, none whatsoever. I’m not doing this as an Exorcist, because I cease to be one this very moment. I’m doing it as a human being. Nicholas, I’m taking you down right now!”
“Hah! History repeats itself, huh…Now I see for myself that there’s truth in that saying.”
W-what do you mean?”
“That sword, it’s a memento from your father, isn’t it?”
How could he possibly know that?
“Yes, I know it is. These truths you revealed, these statements you made… your father made them too when he confronted my own father, the former Chief Priest. This sword I’m holding, and yours clashed. And the wielder of yours lost, and was killed.”
My eyes widened. My hands shook. My heart beat faster. “Your father killed my…”
“Exactly, yet not so. While my blade is the sacred evergreen glade, which does not chip, bend, rust, or become dull, yours is a deadly one. The blade Angel Michael was said to have used to kick Lucifer out of heaven. The injury dealt to Lucifer’s form binds him to hell, unable to leave. In other words, wounds from your blade never heal.”
I understood what he was saying.
“My father dealt yours a fatal blow. One which did not heal. One which he managed for the rest of his short life,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Yes. It seems for once, my father let his guard down and got sliced right through the lung and into his aorta. Our best medicine and elixirs could only keep him for a meager 14 days before he died, a testament to the effectiveness of your sword.”
I looked at my sword in a new light, as I braced myself for his attack.
He rushed towards me, screaming, “Now, the stage is set, and I’m going to complete what my father started!”
******
@Hanzell, @Leo_kitti, @Gwenie, @gertu13 sorry it took me so long to post 😭😭🙏
Kinda late 😅😅😅 but but i missed!!! And i see it's about to get some action too