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Chapter 19: The First Sin

Eeskit had to shield his eyes because the light was so bright. The fiery ball that had fallen from the sky amidst Eeskit's suicidal last charge had landed between him and the phalanx line of the soldiers. Dust had been kicked up, but even through all of the haze, the light from the fiery ball was still seemingly as bright as the sun.

The soldier's phalanx line held, but the soldiers manning it were unsure. This was not some sorcery of theirs. So, they inched closer, encouraged by their numbers and the recent certainty they felt of victory. With face masks lowered to help with the light, they went into the haze.

Eeskit on the other hand, was backing up and away. His instincts were telling him that this couldn't be any good. The situation had already been dire enough, his couldn't make it any better.

“Perhaps time to make hasty retreat," one of Eeskit's clan mates said in his ear once he had backed up far enough to reach them. “Soldiers no see us now."

Eeskit looked back at the light through his squinting eye lids and a raised hand. His nose twitched at the smell of the kicked up dirt. Retreat was now the best option. The enemy was distracted from a battle that they were assured to win and yet he stayed. The feeling of panic left him as no attack came from the light and something itches at the back of his mind, some sort of memory.

It was many many years ago in a time when Eeskit hadn't been a slave. He had been an assassin, like always, for the greater clan and had been sent out to investigate rumblings in some northern region of that few cared about. It had been in the middle of winter then and the vermin had been hard pressed to make any real progress through the blizzards that were ravaging the area. He would have used the vermin's secret tunnel network, but the tremors he was investigating had collapsed many and put others into question. It would be months before they were up again. So he walked on the surface.

Eeskit had come prepared for the cold with many layers of clothes that covered him from head to toe, but he had not anticipated the shear amount of snow. It came down at the rate of many inches an hour and he had been walking for days now. The road had vanished and only the warmth of spring could dispel it.

Eeskit was about to call the mission off, better to get a scolding from the clan leaders than be dead, when a new tremor erupted from somewhere close by.

The ground shook violently, nearly throwing Eeskit into the snow banks. The shaking miraculously settled the snow, cutting its height in half and packing it enough to walk on without sinking to his thighs. It surely must have been a blessing and so Eeskit, with a reluctant sigh, marched forward again.

Whatever had caused the tremors seemed to have sent some message to the heavens because the snow started to die down as well and the air stilled. The world opened up into a white wonderland. The trees, barren of leaves, had new crowns of snow and the mountains ahead looked like pearly spiked teeth.

Eeskit shook his body from pointed ears to cloth wrapped tail to get the snow off of him. His gaze swept around him for a moment, not looking for threats, but just looking. He had spent most of his life in the warren's of the vermin undercities and while he had seen snow before, it had always been off in the distance during the few times her ventured to the surface. Now he was surrounded by it and could feel its icy claws against his skin which made him shiver in both coldness and delight. He just wanted to take it in for a moment and sort it in his memories to look back on.

A few minutes later, with his fill of the sights in his mind and remembered, Eeskit pushed ahead to the mountains.

There was an obvious trail into the mountains, a jagged trench that was sheltered from the worst of the storm. It was dark, flanked by massive walls of crumbly stone on either side. Eeskit hesitates a moment, paw resting on the pommel of his favored dagger for reassurance. These were just tremors, no word on any enemy in the area. He stepped in and was immediately met by a gust of surprisingly warm air that also held the smell of sulfur to it.

It was a short walk, no more than two hours of constant and wary treading down the canyon before Eeskit found the source of the tremors.

The canyon opened up to a massive crater that was bustling with activity. Humans, more humans than what Eeskit thought existed. They were mining and the tremors were explosions that moved great heaping amounts of stone and earth, revealing a bounty of ore to be plucked from the ground. He could see, from his vantage point way at the top and hidden by the rocks, workers carrying sticks of something and putting them into holes that had been drilled into the rock. They lit wicks at the end of the sticks and then ran. The fire traveled up the wick and vanished into the hole and then the earth rumbled. It was a sight to behold as the earth itself was bent to the will of men.

Eeskit wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but he was scared. Humans had destroyed the once glorious empire of the vermin, driving them to the subterranean depths. All vermin shared at least a wariness of men and their apparent hatred of the vermin, but Eeskit didn't hate them. He knew the history better than most. Humans had arrived without warning and had begun to settle when the vermin had tried to enslave them. The humans retaliated and so the vermin empire crumbled under their boots. Plus, Eeskit had once met a human. He had been a merchant travel long abroad from the human kingdom to trade goods and wears. The man had been humorous and the few hours he had spent with Eeskit had not been bad.

Eeskit watched for a little while. The humans were meticulous. Every single one of them moved with a purpose, each one had a place here and knew it well. They moved the blasted earth quickly and separated it out before picking it apart with picks to get at the ore. The ore was then moved onto wheeled carts and dragged off by teams of feral oxen deeper into the mountains. It would be interesting news for the clan, but not of much concern.

With his mission finished and a report quickly written down on a piece of parchment, Eeskit turned to leave, by nearly walked into a spearpoint.

“Off already?" A human in armor made of banded strips that moved and flexed as he did, spoke. There were four of them and the one that spoke had a helmet with a crest of red dyed horse hair on its top, clearly marking him as the leader.

The soldier holding the spear grimaced. “I hate rats. Let's just gut em and be over with it."

Eeskit's heart raced and his finger's twitched, not for his dagger, but for the bottle he had under his coat that was filled with a bubbling black ooze, the Nectar of Death. It had been a gift to him from the Cult of Knives when he had first been initiated as one of their own. He would only get one bottle to use in dire moments, but he held off as a bright light came down from the heavens.

“Hold yourself," a voice called down from above. “We will not throw ourselves into violence." The light moved down with a slow grace and placed itself between Eeskit and the humans which then back off and sheathed their weapons and then knelt.

“Vessius," the lead human stammered, apparently not dazzled by the light. “I did not know you were coming."

Eeskit's lips peeled back into a grimace as he fought to look through the light and see who this being was.

“I come and go as I please," the light said and the soldier merely bowed his head. Then the light began to fade and Eeskit was gifted with the sight of an angel, but not one like the fabled tales of gleaming knights wreathed in silver. This one looked sad and decrepit. His wings were rusted and his halo half gone. His eyes told a tale of pain as he looked down upon Eeskit and gave a smile that would disarm a Molamsee gladiator.

“Eeskit no mean harm," he managed to say as his vision returned to normal. “Earth shake like none before. I see what cause."

The angel turned fully to face Eeskit, his face still warm and welcoming. “As one would expect when the earth trembles."

“What should we do with him?" The lead human asked as he removed his helmet and held it under the crook of his arm. “We cant let him go, or more will come."

“Eeskit not tell," he chanced the lie. He had to tell. It was his oath to the the Cult of Knives and the clan. Yet, he could see that the angel, Vessius saw right through him. Eeskit avoided the angel's eyes.

“We're nearly done here," Vessius addressed the humans. "Let him go. By the time he has a chance to bring anyone back, we'll be long gone."

The human was about to argue, but changed his mind and like that, Eeskit had been spared by the angel.

Eeskit had made it back to the clan and reported his findings. A second team was sent in to try and steal the exploding sticks, but by the time they got there, the canyon had been collapsed and getting to the human's worksite was impossible.

Eeskit never forgot that encounter and now he stood facing that bright light again which had intervened between himself and death. It could be nothing other than an angel.

The light faded and the dust settled. There was no figure with magnificent wings or a halo, it was a canine in shining armor wielding a blade of ice. Even though it didn't give the appearance of a classic denizen of Heaven, Eeskit could still see the divinity radiating off of him.

The canine glanced from one side, where Eeskit and the slaves were and then to the soldiers. “The slaves go free," he said.

The slaves cried out in pure joy at the apparent blessing from heaven. The soldiers weren't so enthused.

“We know your like aren't unkillable," a soldier said and turned to his comrades. “C'mon, it's just one of them."

The canine smirked and held up his blade. It caught the light and sent another blinding flash. Eeskit was starting to get tired of being blinded so many times.

When the light faded this time, there were a dozen figures, mostly angels and a human in robes and his hands encompassed in flames.

The soldiers didn't look so confident anymore.

The fighting was hard and the killing continued but by the end of the day, the city was in the hands of the slaves.

Most of the masters were captured and while the slaves wanted their heads, the angels stopped them. Instead, the masters were stripped of everything but clothes and sent out of the city. That in of itself was a death sentence for most and the slaves begrudgingly accepted it, though a few did vanish and began to track the masters, waiting for them to escape the eyes of the city and angels.

In the end, all of the leaders met at the District of Kings where the looting had yet to take root.

Janice quickly saw Kieth and embraced him in a hug that surely would have cracked ribs on any other day.

“I'm so glad to see you!" She squealed in a way that no one had recently heard her before. The slave queen, gladiator champion of Molamse, was turned into a crying mess as she was reunited.

“Same," Kieth squared out a breath, but he was smiling and a few tears streaked his cheeks as well.

Janice let him go and Kieth nearly collapsed, but was caught by the canine that had saved the day.

“Good to see you, Janice. I'm so glad you're alright," the canine said and Janice gave him a puzzled look before realization came over her.

Janice covered her mouth. “You died. They told me you died." Fresh tears came to her eyes and she shuddered with a sob.

“I'm here now," Jason stepped forward and gave Janice a hug. She wept against his chest.

After a moment, Janice remembered who else was around and quickly recomposed herself, but all dignity had already vanished.

“What happens now?" Sha asked. He had been given leave to take his family and go, but the former master had decided to stick around.

“A Templar force is on its way here now," Jason said. “They'll have administrators and the ability to get the city organized again. If they wanted to, the free slaves could have it and make it their home. The Free city of Molamse. For those that would stay."

“Most do not have anywhere else to go," Gorston said next. The ox should have been resting from the sheer number of wounds he had received, but had insisted on being part of this meeting. “I and many others would stay. We would gladly accept help." The ox had cooled down a lot since the end of the battle, a lot of the bloodthirst had left him.

“I could stay as well," Sha offered. “My family have a long history of administration here." He looked around at the others and then added, “if you would have me."

“When I first saw you," Gorston spoke with a grunt of pain from his wounds. “You were but another master to kill, but you came to us under the risk of death."

“Courage and resolve," Eeskit added in. The vermin stood near the back with much diminished clan. “Only master to respect us and help us."

“Yes," Gorston nodded. “You have my respects and I would be honored to have your help in rebuilding a free city for us all."

The conversation about the future of the city carried on and the group slowly broke apart until it was just Jason, Janice and Kieth.

For a moment they stood there. It had been nearly two years now since they had last all been together and the only thing stopping each of them from just breaking out into celebration was their fourth missing person, Anthony. They each knew that there could be no real celebration until it was all four of them.

“Any of you know where he is?" Janice asked. “We were separated almost immediately after our capture."

“He was at Vimora," Jason said and pulled something out of a pocket and held it it. It was Anthony's phone. “I found this there, but not him. The entire city had been killed off, but I'm certain he was gone when that happened." He put the phone back into his pocket.

“We'll find him," Kieth said. “We all made it this long. I'm sure that he could have too."

Janice nodded. “Once we find him, then we find a way home."

“I've been working on that part," Jason said and bowed his head. His body glowed and shifted as he released control to Antes.

“What the fuck," Janice stepped back. “What did you do?"

“Long story. Jason shares a body with an angel named, Antes, now" Kieth said with a grin. “We'll explain later, but just listen for now."

Janice gave Kieth an unconvinced sideways glance and then looked over to Antes.

“Even as we speak, the arch demon Malus has begun preparations for his spell. It will take months for him to complete. This spell will send individuals back to your world. We need to focus on stopping him first and when we do, we of heaven will make a way back home for you from Malus' research."

“So we don't even try finding Anthony until after?" Janice said with a flare of anger.

Antes did something that he rarely ever did and the act may have been lost on the others, he pulled down his hood. Glowing white eyes and a shimmer that seemed to both be there and not there met Keith and Janice. There was a look in his eyes and it was shame.

Internally, Jason realized that Antes had ways to keep things from him and that he had kept a secret this entire time. Antes fought off Jason's attempt to retake control long enough to say his burden.

“Anthony, like I with Jason, has shared his body with Malus and lost it to the demon. To truly stop Malus, I fear that we will have to kill Anthony."