Thirteenth of The Blue

XIV

A THICK BLANKET OF fog flowed from the cloudless dawn sky and settled down the ground. The surrounding buildings that stood tall as if with pride have the looks like they are floating when the chilly mist settled down. As many of the edifices have their lights still thrown off, it will give a feeling to anyone wandering the streets that they are entering a ghost-town that will sure manifest goosebumps crawling on the entire body.

It could have been a silent dawn like the air that wraps a cemetery at night, but hurried steps invaded one if the streets, every pace chewing the fine sand scattered thinly on the concrete, echoed on the walls of the surrounding buildings. The man in the parka appeared to be not walking but floating on the low fog like he is the life-ripper, while Geiki, Michael, and Spring are following. They seem to be his last victims that are being delivered towards the life they call eternal, but the absence of the scary scythe gave it all away.

The man is in a bit of a hurry and was bound somewhere to report what he had picked up amid the street. Geiki and the two angels followed his every step. It is as if the trio plans to abduct the lone man they are trailing when the right place and right time comes. And as the man in parka felt he was near where he intended to be, the steps came close to nearly a jog, like he sensed the trio behind him after all.

But there is no way he could have sensed them. As Spring had said earlier, they are just an audience in a past playing like a three-dimensional movie and they cannot interfere. They can hear it like they themselves have been there all those times. They see and feel everything even the damp fog that gives a haunting feeling that a hungry monster is lurking under its cover.

The man they are after finally stopped at the front what seems to be the only brightly lit establishment among the row of buildings sitting next to a street. He gazed up at the three-story building, as if expecting to see someone on top. Geiki who came first, stood at his back and trained his eyes at the topmost level of the building, his mind churning what kind of creatures he will find when they followed this man should he enter. He found it surprising to see all the lights were turned on but did not notice any sign of life inside. It is like someone threw all the lights on before intentionally leaving them all night.

The building is old, its apple green paint, even in the absence of the sun could be observed to have been weathered. It might have been an edifice which only a demolition team will find interesting and has the air like unfriendly spirits are residing inside even with the presence of flooding white light from the fluorescent tubes. Geiki felt a foreboding defiance about the structure, like something does not want him to get in. A spine-tingling fear crept up his spine that sent his whole body into the state of numb. He will never find it surprising if he will encounter an apparition that will kick him out of the edifice.

The man in parka opened his right hand, looking at the feather that is in his grasp. The glow emitting from it produced what seem to be a couple of burning little white lights when it reflected on his irises. He has the look that he was deciding for the options. There is different sadness that could be read on his face as teardrops threatened to drop from the corners of his eyes. At that, he gripped the thing too tight as if he wanted to extract plenty of fluids from the dried feather. He had made a decision and there could be no turning back.

He swung open one of the twin glass doors encased in worn aluminum frames, wandered through corridors and almost took two steps at a time in three flights of stairs. The three spectators came in before the door shut back and was already at his back like they themselves are his companions. And before they knew it, they are all standing in front of a door at the third floor that is left wide open. The man, like he is the resident of the room, came in with all the courage he had mustered.

"Go in," Michael shot at the back of Geiki who is on the lead when hesitated for a moment in following their target inside.

His feet seem heavy and it is an effort just lifting them an inch from the floor, but he managed to take tiring paces. One after the other, he took steps that he is sure he does not want at all. There is an odd feeling that something seem to hammer his soul the further he goes in.

He found himself standing amid the floor of an office designed to be an apartment unit but he never gave himself enough time to drink every detail around. Even the empty diaper wrapper sitting near his feet was missed. If he could had oriented himself well, he might have found a simple dwelling place. A television set sitting on an almost empty shelf, a round table surrounded by two worn out chairs, a bed with dusty pillows and blankets not neatly folded, and a sink in a corner that was piled with a week of unwashed kitchen and dining utensils beside a comfort/bath room. It is the perfect picture of typical city apartments whose residents are either too busy or lazy. Anyone who is living here is thriving either in simplicity or poverty.

A crib surrounded by three individuals sits amid the floor. The man they are pursuing bowed before them as a greeting and waited to be acknowledged.

"What is it?" One of them asked with immeasurable amount of authority as he faced the man, an infant cradled in his arms. Geiki was surprised to hear the voice nearly sounded like him. If only he cannot see the speaker, he may believe it is his voice.

"That is Siknabar," Michael's voice came from his back.

Geiki's eyes as crept from the man's toes to his head, studying every detail of him. He looked like no different from a human being. He is wearing a pair of leather shoes, fitting jeans, and corduroy sweat shirt all fashioned in black. He might have come up with the idea he is looking at a vampire but a calm face betrayed the idea. Like Michael, his hair was long and white, reaching near the shoulder and it shines like silver under the light spilling from the ceiling. His brows are thin arches while curly lashes guards his almost round eyes which have brown irises. His face might look calm but there is hardened look on it as if it is made of white marble.

"Siknabar in human form." The high angel followed up. "He will bear no resemblance of that appearance when he unleashes what monster he is covering on that disguise."

"If it is my first day on earth," Geiki uttered, almost a whisper, as if afraid the other four individuals in the room will hear him. He fixed his eyes on the infant cradled on Siknabar's arms. He never saw any pictures of baby Geiki, but the brows, eyes, lips and the nose matched to his. He felt like he wanted to reach his hand to the infant who got his eyes fixed up his father. "That child....." He could have went on but he is afraid of his own words and it felt like he is about to utter a spell against his own self.

"You." Spring ended up after a couple of agonizing seconds.

Geiki must be saying something but he choked, as if a giant hand is squeezing his neck tightly. How can it be him? His father, who he has not met, supposed to have died when he was child. He admits often times a rare amount of evilness surrounds his personality, which usually erupts impulsively, but not a square inch of him can take that his father is not just a demon, but the right hand of the king of hell. He felt betrayed, by his mother who did not muster the courage to tell him who or what he really is. He felt dizzy and sick just entertaining the idea that half of him is a demon. He wanted to run away from the room as tears began building up on the corners of his eyes, but he is standing there frozen and cannot shake the ice all over him.

"I found this on the streets," the man opening up his palm a couple of inches from Siknabar's nose as if he wanted him to smell the odor out of it. "I believe-"

His words were cut when Siknabar turned his back to him and shot booming orders to the other two individuals in the room. "You, get my wife up here!" He pointed at a bald male dressed on the same fashion like him, and then his index finger was aimed to the next, one who has long flowing black hair who wears same type of clothing too aside from the black tweed jacket. Then he spoke again when the first was sent running away from the room in haste. "You, prepare the army for an imminent attack by the enemy!" Then his last trusted aide was out of the room like a trained dog sent away.

"An accident that blew up the elements of surprise," Michael said as Geiki turned around to face him. "We are supposed to sweep them easily. Siknabar felt that deep in him. That is why he came up with something like this." He pointed at  Siknabar.

Geiki turned around just in time to see Siknabar laying the child on the bed. A sharp double-edged dagger materialized in his right hand. The way he grips the handle, it looked like he will thrust it on baby Geiki's chest any moment.

"You can leave now," he gave a cold order to the man who stood there rooted and frozen, his palm is still wide open as if awaiting for others to inspect the thing on his hand.

The man left without bidding goodbye, his steps landing soundlessly as if it is a law not to make loud paces in the presence of Siknabar. He looked back before he was out of the door and fear could be read in his eyes as he saw the sharp weapon on Siknabar's hand.

Geiki moved closer to his infant self and his father, his eyes intently reading what his father has in mind. He bears the looks of the lion that is about to eat his own cub. Baby Geiki, oblivious to what is going on, is clawing his white-gloved hands in the air and kicks his socked feet towards the ceiling he cannot reach. Geiki gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as if he can inflict damage to the high demon from the memory.

Then suddenly, the environment melted in swirl. The walls around went twisting in a maneuver a toilet bowl will flush in the water. Geiki's hands went up and sideways by instinct, finding something to clutch and cling unto, to brace himself from being carried in the vortex. The thought that he is still trapped in a wild dream came haunting his mind again. A feeling that his mind had lost it settled in him. He had not experienced going high with any dangerous drugs, but he made a conclusion that this is what they experience as their minds skyrocket to euphoria.

When he threw his eyes on the ground, he was too surprised to find it cracking, breaking into pieces, like it is one slab of rupturing delicate glass. At that, his body automatically prepared for impact as he is sure he will fall down three stories down on one solid collision that will surely fracture his bones at many points. But as he look around, he found it odd that his body is not being carried by the swirling current and debris of the floor below came floating, like gravity suddenly went tired and abandoned its work. He felt fascinated when he saw pieces of the ground are now floating and the walls are melting to a hurricane but he remained immobile, floating on what is now an inexistent floor.

It felt for him being trapped in that crazy event for a year when it only took five seconds, and before he knew it, the surroundings have changed. His right hand came up his forehead to shed his eyes against the blinding light that he is facing. The world around is not dark anymore but a brightly lit one. And as his eyes adjusted from the dark into a bright one, he found himself standing on a solid concrete. A few glances around and he saw he is standing on a crossroad. It is the same place where the man found the fallen feather, but the time had definitely changed.

"What happened?" He heard himself asked as Michael walked to his right side while Spring took her position on the other.

"There ends our point of view," Spring volunteered when it took Michael too long to respond. "We can never take a look of what happened next as our access ended when the witness departed.

"The man?" He shot again.

"As the only human who have contact to the enemy this day, we can never see what happened next, nor know how they assembled their forces. We tried in the past following his steps, but he eventually went home in chance of getting his family out from a sure clash of both parties."

"But that-" he gave his words a thought, as if calibrating every piece of it. "Siknabar," he can barely speak of the name. "He butchered the child."

"You won't be standing here with us if he did." Spring said as if with pride and looked up the sky.

The statement struck him the way a big rock will hit his head. He stood there looking at the ground, as if it will give him all the explanation, while the two angels walked up ahead taking the eastern direction. His feet moved on their own and followed the two while his mind is still trapped somewhere in its own mazes, his eyes were trained on the grey concrete. They went in a vacated building and up a few flights of stairs they ascended until the three of them emerged on the top floor.

How many floors they went up? He never know, but as he found himself walking out of his own will, nearing the edge guarded by worn and rusting railings, he estimated it five levels from the ground.

All sides of arguments are still fighting in the depth of his mind as he looked up and found angels hovering up the sky. Their armors are shining and glinting under the onslaught of the morning sun as they swiftly flap their wings to give their bodies steady float. He had never seen an army with a number as great as the one before his eyes. An estimate of their number could have gone to nearly five hundred thousand and they have completely a taken a third of the sky. At that, all thoughts circling in his mind was thrown away.

No wonder they leave damage the way a real world war will, Geiki thought as he gives a study to the poised army that is about to sweep the ground. They may all look the same on his eyes, but a better study revealed not. All of them were wrapped silver in armors and chain mails, but the females could be distinguished by their helms and eye shields.

He looked around, locating the opposing force, but there was not a sign of any of them. The thought that may have fled in fright of the sure decimation and defeat came in him. There was nothing around but buildings void of any sign of movements, but he can feel human presence hiding behind the concrete walls as if it can protect them.

He threw up his eyes again, locating the leader of the invading army. It felt peering at an illusion when he found Michael hovering in the sky yards in front of the clustered army. He glanced at his right, expecting not to find the second Michael, but the high angel still stood there with an overflowing courage spilling out his eyes like his other self whom he is looking at up above. For Geiki, finding a couple of same individual at a single a single time felt like crazy. This dream is really full of surprises.

It as if the sun hurried up and took its position at its 9 o'clock post. What should have been a bright ball of white light had found it hard to penetrate the curtain of fog that domes above the buildings. Sun rays that should be felt like thrusts of a fireplace poker have been equalized when they went through the chilly mist that shrouds the ground. Michael looked at the sun, an annoyed look can be read over his face as he saw that the heavenly body is already too high. He looked like he is going to attack unto it and destroy it himself.

The truth, is that he really grew angry when he saw the sun that tells it is already turning late. What brewed the fiery emotion deep in him is their failure to initiate a surprise attack and nothing about the earth's source of natural daylight. He realized that something flawed their plan, and it angered him further when the cold truth, that he does not know what failed them hit him.

Geiki took an involuntary step backwards when the archangel raised the sword that is in his grasp. The step drawn back was followed by another, not because of fear that the high angel is making signals to commence the attack, but he recognized the sword that was in the hand of Michael. It is the same double-edged broadsword he usually found that is in his grasp on his left hand from the dream that became a regular visitor before his birthday. The sword's tip produced a glint from the sun that has a ray which angled directly to one of Geiki's eyes, momentarily blinding him, but he paid it no mind. The mere sight of the sword came to Geiki like a stampede of bulls came over him and he was left devastated.

The female angels, when they saw the signal from Michael, separated themselves and assembled in rows and columns, a bow and a nocked arrow materializing on each of their hands. They are aiming their weapons at the ground to the enemy that was not anywhere to be seen, all except who seem to be the leader of the archers.

Like Michael, this who-seem-to-be-leader is positioned a few yards from the buildup of archers. Geiki who was supposed to take her as if just an extra on a movie, moved his vision from her to Michael, but something drew his eyes back, like it was a pair of metals attracted to a magnet. When his eyes went back to the female angel, goosebumps materialized in every available surface of his skin. It seems that even with the presence of the eye shield, he can feel that her eyes are piercing through his. He can somewhat feel her vision creep from his toes to the face, as if the angel is recognizing her. At that, he drew more steps backwards, oblivious to the curious looks thrown at him by his two companions. It felt haunting for him, that a character from what Spring and Michael calls a memory, is throwing him an odd look.

He continued his backward steps, too surprised how a character from a memory will act. He could have went on and perhaps will not care if he will trample on the railings at the opposite side of the top floor. Maybe it will not be so much for him if he will fall too and break some bones, as long as he can escape the eyes that he still feels following him. He is near the railings when he felt hands clutched his shoulders the way an eagle will wrapped its talons on a prey. He is suddenly shook back to reality when he found Spring, who is almost digging her fingernails to his shoulders, is now yelling his name for now the tenth time.

"Geiki!" Spring spat the last repetition of his name. "What is happening to you?"

As if he really saw a frightening apparition, he found no words to tell what he had just experienced. He only raised an index finger pointed on the angel leading the archers.

"What is wrong with you?" She turned around to take look at the character Geiki is pointing to.

"She is looking at me," Geiki found the right words at last but sounded like a kid who just found goblins playing in his closet.

But when Spring looked at the character in question, the angel is now aiming her own bow and arrow on the ground while Michael is in the act of waving his sword up high in circles.

The male angels now clutched different types of ancient melee weapons and are already prepared to thrust forward at the command of Michael. A genius mind is not a prerequisite for anyone to predict they intend to sweep the ground and raid every establishment. With the enemy not in sight, they are now forced to locate then destroy them.

"Archers," Michael roared a battle cry, that should have motivated any ancient army against the invasion of Alexander, just in time Geiki threw his eyes to the female angel leading the archers. "Shoot anyone that has black wings!"

"Raid the city!" The high angel came again. "Destroy everyone for the whole of mankind!"

At that, all the angels carrying melee weapons broke the formation and thrust towards the ground. Every one of them has a plan on their own. Each one eyeing a building of choice  they intended to raid. Geiki lost the view of the female angel when the whole of the ground and sky went frenzy.

Spring took one of Geiki's hands to lead him back where he stood earlier. She wants to show him something from the events, Geiki felt it. And he might have a better view of it if he will be back where he was before. As he took his steps, the thought of the female angel that felt recognizing him was pushed out of his mind. He is now wrapped in the shroud of confusion as the male angels emptied out from the sky.

And it is as if by cue, when the two of them reached the side of Michael, who seem to be fascinated watching his own self command the whole force to battle, the whole place seems to shake as black winged figures emptied out from almost all the buildings. They came from every direction and enforced a counter-attack against the raiding party. Silver arrows from the angels came raining on the enemies that suddenly revealed themselves, while black ones shot by the other party seem to be a flying plague of insects that invaded from somewhere and up. In all of a sudden, what seems to be just a raid now morphed into a clash as weapons collided against each other in a series of clangs that echoed for how many kilometers away. The whole place turned into a battlefield as every rooftops became fighting rings, the streets were in intense riots, and the whole of sky became a floating arena. The archers of the angels are now in confusion as they took shots on their own, picking every target available down the ground, up in the sky, and on their sides.

Then all of the fighters from each side froze like time stood still when a second roar with the booming sound of a thunderbolt tore the air that was moments ago filled with metallic collisions. "Michael," came the voice that will scare anyone to death.

Michael who is amid the chaos up in the sky, pulled his sword after thrusting it through an enemy's body armor just above the chest. He let his victim fall weakly on the ground then looked around, locating the owner of the very familiar voice. He was paying anyone no mind and kept on looking for his greatest adversary. He found who is looking for, Siknabar, standing atop a radio station tower. Geiki followed Michael's vision as the angel turned around to face his father. Both of their eyes are now trained on Siknabar who bore no resemblance of the human form Geiki saw earlier.

Siknabar would have made an entire force of the enemy submit just by his looks. He is fifteen feet tall and looked like something assembled from various parts of different creatures. His feet, from the sole to the hips, are scaly and have sharp pointed nails at the tip of the four fingers from each; fair to be said that it came from a two-legged dinosaur. His body is gigantic and hairy which is seemed to have been borrowed from King Kong. An enlarged hand of human with all the trimmed fingernails is wrapped by black armors, the only metal protections he got on his entire body. At the shoulder, the armor has a big thorn-like horn aimed sideways that will perhaps pierce a battle tank effortlessly. His right hand, the one that is gripping the sword, look scaly too and has long black, curved, and sharp claws. His neck is bare of any hairs but has black scars lining almost every available skin on it, having the looks that he may have been in countless battles. His head, the scariest part of him, does not have facial hairs and has the look of a hairless grizzly bear, only this one seem to have been burnt from intense heat sometime earlier but has now healed, leaving skin and muscles on his head deformed like a plastic container thrust into fire to melt then was cooled. His eyes, if that is what they can be called, are hallowed and dark, while a couple of red embers pose as the irises. At the lowest part of his spine, on his back, he has two dozens of tails that are composed of every deadliest snake known to mankind. His teeth, when he opened his deformed mouth, are a set which is razor-sharp and has the look it can chew on a metal plate. He also got a pair of wings like the rest of the creatures from the oblivion. And when he exhale, a reddish flame blows out of his nostrils.

"We are going to finish this," Siknabar roared again. "Right here, right now, one of us got to fall."

"Agreed!" Michael yelled as his gripped the sword with both of his hands above his right shoulder.

Geiki focussed his eyes on the sword that is in his father's grasp as Siknabar drew it sideways, an act that signified he will soon attack, which is punctuated by a series of the flapping of his wings. He recognized the weapon as the one that he had just pulled off the rock, now resting beneath the skin of his palm.

All warriors intently ceased the battle as if a pact was made among them that they must give way for the epic fight between their generals. All eyes are now at the two of them, as everyone awaited the grandest fight they may all witness. It is a clash of the two aces from each side, a dream match bigger than any pay-per-view boxing main events.

Everyone held their breath as Siknabar's wings flapped loudly and faster, preparing himself to unleash on the awaiting and prepared archangel. And when he lifted off from the tower, heartbeats stopped and went frozen, as all eyes followed him when he took flight towards Michael.

Geiki looked at the heaven's pride, expecting him to thrust forward and meet his father halfway, but he read hesitation on Michael's eyes as if he suddenly decided to quit on it after realizing this is a fight he cannot win. Geiki felt he was be wrong when the high angel made his move. The high angel beat the air with his wings and thrust to meet his greatest adversary mid air in a fight that will sure echo eternally.

Siknabar held his sword with both hands up his head as he flew near the intercepting enemy. Michael read the maneuver and decided for a block upon the collision.

Siknabar drained all his force to s***h the heavy weapon to the enemy when they met at last. And as Michael had predicted the move earlier, he had prepared himself for a block, holding his sword with a right hand and placed it horizontally above his head, a good measure away in case the thrust of Siknabar comes too heavy and forceful. Then the two weapons collided at last with what must be an expected loud and sharp clang.

Siknabar's sword slashed on a chop that would have cut Michael in half if his weapon did not block off the incoming attack. When both weapons clashed they gave an explosion that has a sound of thousand thunders merging as one. It is a booming eruption that punctuated the thought that something went terribly wrong.