The Winds of Change – Part 3

THE WINDS OF CHANGE
♣♣♣ Part III ♣♣♣
The Light Bearer
Apocalyptic Fiction by Jason Youngman

Jason entered the hall with a surprised look on his face and without a moment of reflection commanded, “For the love of God! What are you two doing here? And where in hell is Samson!?”
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“Our formation director stepped away in haste and told us to remain here,” Borgia replied without hesitation.
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“What say you Thomas?” Jason inquired with a more gentle tone. His affection for the carpenter was without parallel.
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“He left the room in a tizzy and made for the storage room. He indicated that something of importance occurred to him but said nothing of it,” Thomas chose each word carefully.
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“He’s been back there all this time then,” responded Jason, “let’s go and see what the matter is.”
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They entered the room cautiously while calling out to Samson, but he was nowhere to be found, so they split up in order to search the room in hope of finding a clue of his whereabouts.
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“Look ‘a here,” shouted Thomas, “there’s a crack in the wall here.”
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“That’s the secret entrance to the crypt. Samson may have gone down by himself. And look, the torches are lit too,” reasoned Jason, as he descended the stairs.
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“So you suppose Samson lit these torches but failed to return for us?” asked Borgia with his best inspector’s voice.
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“No, it’s not like that,” retorted Thomas, “the elves lit them for our journey.”
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“Let me guess; little green leprechauns laid out the red carpet for us.” Borgia’s sarcasm cut the air into a dreaded stillness.
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Jason held his finger to his mouth and pointed with his other hand towards a hooded man kneeled at a large wheel. It appeared the man exhausted himself in an attempt to turn the wheel. Jason motioned the friars to stay put and approached the scene with extreme caution. The closer he got the more evident the man’s identity became.
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“Forgive me Father, for I have sinned,” implored Samson, as he tried to turn the wheel again.
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“What in God’s earth are you doing here Samson!?” Jason asked in astonishment.
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“I was trying to open the way for us, but failed rather miserably it seems.”
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“But why did you come down on your own?”
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“I don’t know, Father.”
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“Have you been drinking again?”
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“Yes, Father, I meant to take only a taste of our Lord’s blood, but due to the precarious nature of our journey ahead, I fell into sin.”
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“I forgive you, Samson, but for now on I want you to keep the wine under lock and key. In the meantime you may drink only once a week during your time off, but no more than a pint. That will be your penance.”
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“Merciful Father, you are heaven sent.”
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“That may be so, but now we are heaven bound. Drink this tonic and say no more of it.”
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Jason motioned the friars to join him and told them that Samson misunderstood his instructions, and that he himself was only recently brought up to speed as to the specifics of their ordeal. He cautioned them to avoid looking into the eyes of the creatures that lurked within the shadows. Such are under oath to prevent those who seek to pillage Solomon’s tomb. Then Jason instructed the friars how to use the contraption that would open the vault. All three friars had to place their red pebble into three keyhole openings at the same time. Thomas had left his back at the hall so he ran back to retrieve it. Along the way he was cornered by a vicious looking creature.
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“Why are you running away?” hissed the creature, while squeezing Thomas’s wrist with a burning friction.
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“No! No!” replied Thomas, “I am just going upstairs for something.”
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“A red pebble you mean,” the creature retorted, “so you wish to access my master’s chambers!?”
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It pulled down on Thomas’s arm, bringing him to his knees so that they might remain eye to eye. Then the creature noisily breathed in through its mouth, which abrasively took in Thomas’s breath, and rendered him without the ability to breathe.
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“Take that,” Borgia exclaimed, while burying his knife into the creature’s neck, “you foul demon of the underworld!”
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The creature laughed hysterically, but Borgia refused to go limp in the knees for what he thought to be a pathetic looking leprechaun.
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“Release my friend,” demanded Borgia, “or you will wonder the depths of Hades both cursed and headless!”
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With that the creature grasped Borgia’s throat and recited scripture, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.”
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All life drained from Borgia’s face. No witty replies were uttered but the dimmed colour in his eyes suggested resistance to the very end.
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“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” Jason uttered a supplication onto the Lord God while making the sign of the cross, “I hereby bound you to the abyss…”
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“You have no power over me, Jason, son of Joseph,” the creature uttered, before looking at his opponent in the eye.
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“Return to the shadows at your Lord’s command, but first release your hold upon my servants!” Jason spoke with complete authority as the Pope’s ring upon his finger shone with a dazzling beauty, captivating the demon who lay enthralled to its splendour.
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Then the creature fixed his eyes upon Jason before he spoke, “Hast thou come to destroy us before the appointed time; O Son of Man?”
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“Silence your blasphemy,” Jason spoke without moving his lips while addressing the demon, but to the ears of his friars nothing was heard but thunder, “and go now into the underworld and let all those who are imprisoned in eternal chains know that the light bearer has returned for thee.”
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The creature removed the knife from his neck, licked the blade and handed it back to Borgia. Then it spat into the face of Thomas, who in turn made a violent grasp for air before returning to his senses. Next the creature touched the ground with the palm of his right hand, and all the lights flickered before going pitch black. It scrapped its sigil into the floor with its claws. A long dreadful moment passed before the lights resumed, but the creature was nowhere to be seen.