3. Fiery Transformation
1697 Words
“Attack me!” Phantom screamed. His ferocious, dark eyes blazed, and he held his powerful arms out wide. A thin, wiry man flung his sword at him with as much force as he could muster. There was a loud clang of metal as it was swept aside. “Pathetic! Attack me properly, Anathema, and mean it!”
Attack me!The swords clashed with immense force, sparks flying. They pulled their weapons apart, and threw themselves into the next swing, grunting with the effort. Phantom grinned with malice and swung his immense broadsword in a vicious downwards strike. Anathema jumped to the side, narrowly missed by the descending blade. He returned a fast counterthrust but it was parried easily. He frowned and lunged again, determination etched on his face. He allowed his hatred to consume him, to give him strength and focus. He struck with more precision this time, aiming for his opponent"s head, but the strike was once again batted aside. His failure infuriated him, and he lost his concentration for a second.
Phantom"s sword flew through the air towards his unprotected chest. The sharp tip pierced his skin and ripped through the flesh beneath. Anathema froze, his eyes wide with surprise. An evil glint shone in Phantom"s eyes, and he grabbed Anathema"s shoulders and pulled him closer, forcing the blade deeper into his body until, with a final, brutal push, it burst out through his back.
Phantom gave a savage chuckle and tossed him aside, pulling his sword out as Anathema slumped to the ground. Phantom sheathed his weapon and stood, arms crossed, looking down at his defeated opponent. Anathema groaned with pain, pressed his hand to his chest and sat up. His shirt had been ripped by the blade, and he pulled the material aside just in time to see the wound slowly closing. No blood poured from it, only a sprinkling of ash seeped from the gaping hole. He watched as the pale, white skin closed over the gash and then glared at Phantom.
“Was that really necessary?” Anathema snapped in the harsh language of Hell, acidic to the ears of humans.
Phantom sneered, “Yes. You"re not good enough to fight a child at the moment—you need to learn. And speak the local tongue, not ours.”
Anathema hissed with rage and continued in the language of the humans. “I can"t get this stupid human body to do what I want. It"s too weak.”
“The body isn"t weak; you"re weak.”
“Well, how about you stop insulting me and actually teach me something worthwhile?”
“You don"t deserve it” was the cold reply Anathema received. His face darkened. With grey eyes that burned in hatred, he growled at his mentor.
“There we go. That"s more like it. You might be in human disguise now but allow the demon in you to break out. Use your hatred and your anger to make you stronger. Stop being so weak and sensitive.” Phantom looked at Anathema in disgust. “It"s almost human.” He shuddered as though the word were poison on his tongue.
human“How dare you?” Anathema replied with equal disgust, “I need more practice, that"s all. I can"t operate in human form. I need to break out, to be my true self. Or else I can"t access my power.”
“You"re a creature of malice. It should come naturally, human or demon form. What is there to practice?”
“I want to be able to use this stupid body,” Anathema waved his arms in the air, “but it doesn"t come naturally to me; it"s too restrictive. I need to flex my wings to fight. I need to get my claws out to kill.”
“Kill whom?”
“Anyone I"m told to.”
“You should kill even if it"s not an order! That"s what we"re here for. You see a human, you kill them immediately. Following orders comes second. Better to kill first and question later than to let a human live because you hesitated.”
“What if I kill the wrong person?”
Phantom"s burning eyes flared with rage “There is no "wrong" person. You kill anyone, everyone. Humans are vermin—they need wiping out.”
“Well, what about Vincent Wilder?” Anathema asked. “You say we should kill humans, but every day I see you sucking up to that man.”
“Vincent"s different. He might have the short lifespan and overactive emotions of a human, but he"s the closest to a demon we"ll get in this world. If he wasn"t so concerned with his "love" of Callista, he might have what it takes to become one of us.”
“No way. That i***t"s got too much compassion.”
“He"s got less compassion than you.”
Anathema roared with rage, “Don"t you dare! Don"t you EVER suggest I feel anything from this pathetic realm! I am a demon! I will never feel compassion!”
feelPhantom"s eyes glinted with cruelty. “Prove it.”
“Fine!” Anathema stormed over to a large, wooden shed that stood adjacent to the stone courtyard at Vermidor.
He yanked the doors open to hear the terrified screams of the people trapped within. He marched into the barn and grabbed a teenage boy by the arm, dragging him, struggling, into the courtyard. With one look at Phantom, Anathema ripped his sword across the boy"s throat. The boy"s eyes widened in horror as a waterfall of blood gushed from the s***h. His lifeless body slumped to the floor.
Anathema stormed back into the barn and grabbed a young girl by the arm. She screamed out in terror and two older people beside her shrieked and wailed for Anathema to spare their daughter. But they had seen this before. They had been there, just two days ago, when the demons had first entered the town and slaughtered half the population and enslaved the rest. Once the demons got a taste of bloodlust, it was futile to try and stop them.
Anathema pulled the terrified girl across to where her friend had been killed. She pleaded and whimpered to be freed. He forced her, weeping, to her knees, and in one brutal thrust, drove his sword through her heart. He kicked her body to the ground and wiped his sword across his shirt, leaving a red smear across his chest.
“Do I need to carry on?” he asked Phantom.
“No, I think I get the point. We shouldn"t waste humans. We"re lucky we were allowed to use this town as our base. Vincent said it was far enough from the capital of Meraxor that it wouldn"t affect the Brotherhood too much. He said the people were disposable, and we could use them for whatever we wanted. That"s why I like the guy so much.” He grinned, flashing white teeth.
“Do you believe me now? Killing humans is what I exist for; it"s like a drug to me.”
“It"s your desire to prove that which disturbs me.”
Anathema swallowed his hatred and chose to ignore the statement. Fire burned in his stomach, and he had an overwhelming urge to s***h his mentor"s throat, but Phantom was stronger than he and much quicker. Chain of command in Hell meant Anathema was bound to obey his master. It stung him bitterly that he was tied to anyone else"s orders, but if he disobeyed, he"d be sent back to Hell—where there was nobody to kill.
“What techniques do we need to practice?”
“For now, you need to work on rapid transformation in and out of your true form.”
Excitement surged in Anathema"s chest. “Does that mean we"ll be out on the battlefield soon?”
“I think so. Vincent said we"ve prepared long enough. He"s going to start dispatching us to the villages first. If they are independent, they could ally themselves with the Children of Light in the future, so we must obliterate them before they can. But if we"re to do that successfully, you need to perfect your transformation because you"re useless in human form. To be effective, you need to switch between one form and the other in an instant.”
“Show me,” Anathema demanded.
Phantom frowned, disliking the command in his tone, but he complied. With eyes closed and concentration creasing his brows, he stretched his hands out. The transformation started in his fingertips. His long digits flickered into burning embers and fire snaked up his arms. With a blast of heat and light, his body burst into flame and engulfed him from head to toe. Two colossal wings, coated in dripping hot lava folded out from his back and his face became broader, his eyes glowing red. The heat emanating from his terrifying form seared Anathema"s skin and made him recoil. He watched with envy as Phantom"s body grew until he loomed over him.
Phantom leant down, pushed his enormous fiery face towards Anathema"s and gave a grotesque chuckle. He stepped back, took a deep breath, fire and smoke billowing from his nostrils, and began to change back. He shrank back to human size, his wings folded back and disappeared into his disguise, and the flames were extinguished. As he sank back into his human form, Phantom shook and stretched his muscles, uncomfortable in the restrictive body.
“Your turn,” Phantom said with a condescending smirk.
Anathema gritted his teeth in concentration. He closed his eyes and focused all of his attention on the transformation. A shiver ran through his whole body, tingles spreading from his head to his toes. He yearned to be in his real form again and allowed that desire to consume him, forcing the metamorphosis to begin.
The shivers spread to every inch of his body, and he gasped with pleasure as he felt the shift begin. He relaxed into the change and revelled in the pleasure of returning to who he truly was.
- Writer
