The Curse of Blackbane - Chapter 23

The Black Monk's Story

Chapter 23

“I’m afraid I’ve done you a disservice,” Leiras admitted as he drank wine from a bladder, shivering from the cold. “Of course, I should have told you everything.”

He went silent, glancing at Marshall. The pirate remained silent while he continued to build a fire.

“In my defense, it’s difficult for people to believe that I once carried a power against such creatures.”

Finally, the small flame spread across the tinder and slowly developed into a fire. The captain leaned back against his saddle while an uncomfortable silence fell over them. After escaping the clutches of the demon and his minions, the two men spent part of the night tracking down their horses. They remained far from the road. But they had their supplies.

Marshall returned to work on his wounds. He hoped the twins’ fangs didn’t have poison in them. Reaching around awkwardly, he dabbed at the wounds with a rag soaked in gin from the flask that Leiras gave him.

“The Cambions focus on lust, not poison,” the monk spoke as if he read Marshall’s thoughts.

The pirate sucked in his breath at the sting from his wounds he treated.

“Well, as long as those damned creatures remain in hell. It’s a hard lesson we’ve learned, angel. This lust caused me to let my guard down. Damn Remiel and his curse.”

Marshall glanced over at the angel before he continued.

“If we remain as partners, from now on, we tell the whole truth.”

Leiras nodded his head after another drink.

“I’m afraid your blessed dagger killed only one of them. However, I enjoyed watching Atsais suffer as he died. As an angel, I once had the power to melt such a vile creature into nothing.”

He grumbled, then took another drink.

“Unfortunately, your dagger can’t destroy a creature like Asmodeus. Certainly, my lamp cannot kill them. It only drives them away. We could drive a stake made from the blessed cross through the heart of Asmodeus, and it still wouldn’t kill him. Only the Lord can destroy them.”

Leiras wondered if the man was listening to him.

“You know that they’ll still hunt you.”

Marshall stopped his work and shivered from the evaporation on his wounds. He looked at the monk. For the first time, his comrade appeared tired and lackluster.

“So, do I call you Sariel now?”

The angel shook his head.

“That’s the name of an angel. I wouldn’t recognize it.”

“Alright, then I want to know why you have no power to fight demons,” the captain stated.

The monk tightened his tattered red robe around him as he looked into the flames. He sighed lightly.

“I once held enough power to keep them away. I was a Principatus, as the mortal priests call our species. We are the educators and guardians of people. That means we influence human through a dream or a whisper.”

“That explains how you know so much about my visions,” Marshall replied.

“Yes, that’s true. While I never had the tremendous power of an archangel, I had enough capability to stop demons from despoiling me like tonight.”

The ex-angel growled out the last sentence and went quiet for a moment. Marshall’s muddled thoughts turned to his own predicament when Asmodeus and the offspring closed to rape him. Worse, he nearly became one of those useless souls hanging on the walls as a toy for the demons.

“My role helped to guide the chaste and holy away from the path of evil,” Leiras finally spoke again. “It got so I could smell a demon a league away. Avoiding the traps set by the dwellers of the underworld helps a mortal remain on the righteous path. Obviously, I lost such abilities when I fell to my sins.”

“I wish I knew all this earlier,” Marshall grumbled. “While I had my suspicions, that gold chain around that woman’s neck made me push away my fears. Asmodeus recognized our human weaknesses. The damned creature took advantage of both of us.”

Leiras picked up a stick and started poking the burning wood. His face expressed concern.

“I think the debauchery blinded me before we went inside that home. As you’ve learned, my weakness comes from such things. I didn’t pick up the demon’s scent until we entered his domain. Perhaps I’ve become more like a demon than what I once was,” the angel shrugged.

Then, he looked into the sky, his expression turned melancholy.