A Demon Born

Chapter 7

Shattered glass and chunks of concrete littered the abandoned warehouse. Three demons stood over two dead bodies while a fourth tormented a young man cowering on the ground. Solus briefly looked down at the ashen remains of a Guardian before turning his attention once more on the last surviving Soul Protector. He no longer needed to be in demon form, so he morphed into his human form, enjoying the brief moment of fear and disgust in her eyes.

She held up her talisman to perform one last spell. Solus drew out his own aura and flung his energy at her, sending her broken body into the wall. Amazingly still breathing, he walked toward her, towering over her bloodied form. With a wicked smile, he reached down and held his hand just over her chest. With a flick of his fingers, he began to draw out her soul.

The act of Taking a soul could be difficult, especially if the human did not want her soul taken. But she was near death, and he needed only to pluck the last strands of life before her soul rose into his palm. Her now empty body took one last shuddering breath before going limp.

Solus held the ball of bright light that was the woman’s soul and pondered its frailty. Then in one motion, he squeezed the soul in his fist and with a burst of energy, the light within disintegrated. Now, there was nothing left of the woman but an empty shell.

“Aw, now why didn’t you just devour it? At least then you would’ve gotten a little pick-me-up!” Jeroth stood behind him, picking through the bodies littering the abandoned warehouse. He had himself just finished devouring the soul of one of the dead. The other soul managed to disappear while the two Destroyers were fighting over who would eat it.

“Unlike you, I don’t need to supplement my strength,” Solus growled back. He always detested the thought of eating a living being’s soul, and he detested Jeroth even more. He was Francesca’s Voyager, and his strength lay in his cunning ability to fight dirty. Solus didn’t trust him anymore than a Guardian.

“Well, Mr. High-and-Mighty, if you weren’t gonna eat it, you could’ve shared,” he mumbled as he stood over a second Guardian’s ashen remains.

Solus glanced at his handiwork around him. It took seven of them to take the two Guardians and three Soul Protectors down, but it was worth it – and they only lost one Destroyer. The rage that powered him continued to flow through his body. He wanted to kill more of them.

“Solus, what would you like to do about the human?” the other Avenger, a young one on his first mission, held up a frightened young man that he was tormenting by the shirt collar.

Solus stepped up to the man. He looked to be a little older than Solus had been when he died, and the thought made him angry. This human got to enjoy life while he lived in hell. Literally. The man smelled of terror and urine, a dark blot of wetness covered the crotch of his pants. Anger turned to disgust and with one motion, Solus separated the man’s soul from his body.

“If any of you want to parade about in this one’s skin for a while, be my guest.” And while he said it, he threw the soul in the air and willed it into Dis. The remaining Destroyers started arguing over whose turn it was to possess a human body.

Faint stirrings of guilt began to float through Solus’s mind. The manwas probably just some smitten college kid who didn’t know the object of his affections was a Soul Protector. In anger, Solus killed him by taking his soul. He didn’t really have a choice, the guy would have been fodder for the other demons otherwise. But there was no hint of any darkness within the man’s soul, and as such, Solus sentenced him to eternity wandering Limbus.

Frustrated, he stalked out of the demolished building and into the warm autumn California air. The industrial complex was deserted; the only life left was on the nearby docks across the harbor. He took in the smell of salt, fish, and pollution from the city. The last of the sun’s rays danced through the haze hanging in the air.