The devil's Pact - S01 E343

Story 12 hours ago

The devil's Pact - S01 E343

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 343

"Shamans"

Sunday, September 29th, 2013-Mark Glassner - Tacoma, WA

Sunday passed in a haze of pain.

I woke from the dream with Azrael back into the torment of my battered body. I hauled myself to my feet, ignoring the protest of my muscles, and staggered to the sink accompanied by the clank of my manacles. I bent down and greedily drank the cool water from the tap, bringing momentary relief to the stump of my tongue. My stomach ached and rumbled. I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday, I realized. That seemed like a lifetime ago. I closed my eyes and remembered Mary napping naked on our bed as I quietly slipped out; she had been hugging a pillow, her auburn hair draped about her neck and shoulders. She had looked so beautiful and peaceful; I would give anything and I mean anything to see my wife again.

"Morning, Mary, sent to her. We were connected telepathically now by the Siyach spell.

*How are you?" Mary sent back, her thoughts full of love and concern.

I've been better. tried to keep the pain from bleeding into my sending. "Azrael visited me last night. She's teaching me to use my other powers.

*I have a plan, Mark, she sent excitedly, and proceeded to explain. She was flying to France, to steal the Mother Superior's Gift, to become a Nun and exorcise Brandon. It was so risky, so desperate, but what choice did we have? Killing Brandon was out of the question. He had to have tens of thousands of people under his power by now, all their life-forces bound to him. If he died, they would all die. I could not have so much blood on my hands-or on her hands.

When the soldiers came for me, my body was too sore to fight. Resigned to my fate, I let them drag me off, my manacles clinking. The rest of the day was pain. Never-ending pain. The only thing that I could cling to as they beat me was my wife. My Mary. I pictured her smiling at me; I remembered how beautiful she looked while painting, the day we found out she was pregnant, and the cute way she bit her lip while thinking. I clung to the memory of how radiant she looked on our wedding day, marching down the aisle to me in her white dress set aflame by the setting sun. Mary helped me survive the day by constantly sending her love and encouragement

She gave me hope. Just knowing she was out there kept me sane.

Sometime during the beatings, in the afternoon I thought, Mary sent, I did it! The Gift is mine! Just hold out a little longer!

After the eternity of suffering, I was dragged back to the prison shower and my filth was hosed off me, then it was back to my cell. The soldiers threw me roughly onto the hard, concrete floor, locked the cell door, then watched with uncaring eyes. I didn't have the strength to move; I just laid there, letting the cold seep into my burning muscles. Mary was on her way back, on her way to save me. Hope filled me. My wife was coming, she was going to exorcise Brandon, and this nightmare would be over. I struggled to rise, but all my muscles protested the action and I collapsed back onto the concrete floor. Not caring anymore, I stopped fighting my exhaustion and let unconsciousness take me.

Azrael visited me in my dreams, to continue my training. Last night, I learned just how woeful was at combat. Azrael had explained it: "The Gift gives you reflexes and strength, but your body needs to learn how to move, how to stand and balance, and that takes practice"

So we spent last night training. She taught me footwork, the most important part of fighting. If you can't stand properly, you'll be off- balance, get tripped up, and fall down or leave yourself open to your enemy's attack. I spent hours learning just how to hold the blade, then more hours swinging it in deadly arcs: cross-slashes, thrusts, overhand swings. Finally, we sparred. Every time her blade struck my body, the pain taught me to pay more attention, to learn faster, to fight better. We fought and fought, never tiring, and I learned. My muscles absorbed the knowledge; I started moving with grace and purpose, not flailing about without any thought or care. Every movement of my body was deliberate, full of purpose- to defeat my opponent.

After training for hours, for maybe even a full day, I finally asked Azrael when I would wake up. "Time passes more slowly in the dream," she answered. "What seems like minutes in your mind is only seconds in the waking world."

"Like Inception?" The Angel gave me a puzzled look, her scarlet eyebrows furrowing. "It's a movie. All about dreams." She just stared at me. "Never mind," I muttered, and we continued our sparring.

We moved on to hand-to-hand fighting. She taught me a brutal mix of grappling, kicks, and punches. It wasn't like kung-fu in movies. There were no flourishes, no dramatic arm waves or kicks, every single attack was designed to hurt your opponent. She taught me to go for the body's weak points: knees, groin, elbows, sides, throat, eyes. Break bones, dislocate joints, rupture vital organs, and do it as quickly as possible to end the fight before your enemy can defeat you.

The dream seemed to last for days before woke up this morning. When Azrael appeared again to me this night, I asked her, "More sparring?

"Yes," she answered, her voice ringing bells. "But first, there are other Prayers to teach you."

"Will they help me to escape?"

"No, but you may find then useful one day," she answered. A look of disgust flitted across her face. "You've bound your Thralls with the Zimmah ritual, yes?"

I nodded. "And? Most of them agreed to it willingly." I felt defensive beneath her judging gaze.

"I'm sure," she said with distaste. "The Ragily prayer is similar. It allows you to link a group of willing fighters to you. There is a limit on how many persons you can bond, unlike the Zimmah ritual. However, those you bind in this way gain certain advantages when fighting the supernatural."