Amber by Dan-Dwayne Spencer (e book reader .TXT) 📕

the ground and stood back, letting the concussive force crack the ground under his feet. The fissure split the road and ran melee across the cemetery, breaking tombstones and cracking vaults.

I lost track of the rookie cop and glanced around, searching for him. I found the young officer peering out from behind the base of a tall concrete cross about five yards closer to the gate than I stood. His words were jumbled and tear-filled as he stumbled through his recitation of the rosary. At least he wasn’t waving his gun and trying to arrest us.

Phoenix stopped his boasting and stared at Flower. A dejected expression spread across the angel’s face. “Flechia, you rise up against me with these pawns of The Most High. Daggers of remorse stab my heart. Lady-Love, harm must never come your way. Depart this field before I destroy these insignificant peons.”

“My place is by their side, Phoenix, not yours. Let their fate be my own,” Flower screamed.

“This cannot be. You were not meant to be here. You were to be held in the Sheriff’s jail until I came for you.” Confusion gathered in furrows on his perfect brow. “Save yourself my love. Join me and live.”

Flower answered with steadfast silence.

“Fear not, my love, I chose you over my God. You will not be harmed. You are my destiny. You will survive to regale others of my might and fierce splendor.” Lightning flashed in his eyes. “Stand aside and witness the unholy power I wield.” Phoenix lifted his arms. “See, even the heavens bend to my will.”

Above us, the thunder rattled in a strange timbre. What I believed to be rumbling thunder converted into more of a high-pitched buzz. I gazed upward. Horror filled my amber eyes because the thundercloud I expected to see wasn’t a cloud at all. Millions upon millions of flies swarmed the sky overhead.

Rushing forward, I reached for the sword and pulled at it, trying to dislodge it from the earth. Phoenix slapped me away with the back of his hand. I flew thirty feet in the air and crashed into a granite and obsidian obelisk mounted on a large base nearer the front gate. The heavy black rock barely moved on its base. I fared far worse, my side pained me and I struggled to keep conscious, positive I had sustained several broken ribs. I rolled to the side of the monument and tried to stand. I felt lucky. If my head had hit the granite stone, I would’ve been a goner.

Flies started swarming around me. The pests were so thick they choked me as I struggled to breathe. I put my hands over my nose and mouth to keep them out, as best I could. I gasped and caught my breath before struggling to stand. Freeing one hand to grapple for support on the monument’s base, I, by chance, saw it. An inscription carved on the base of the monument—Dei Angelus Vero Benedicam—the same phrase the sheriff made Jimmy memorize.

I yelled, “Dei,” and the ground shook, the flies cleared from around me and I could finally stand. “Angelus,” I screamed louder and the earth literally moved beneath my feet like an impending earthquake. “Vero!” I bellowed as loud as I could. It was like every word hit the ground with more force than the last.

I turned to get a glimpse of Phoenix. His beautiful face distorted in horror, he screamed, “Don’t. Stop it. No, No—No.” He flapped his wings and bolted toward me.

Facing the monument and I boldly cried out, “Benedicam!” It was like a wrecking ball struck the ground under my feet. The monument toppled and broke in two. At some time in history, the obsidian obelisk had been skillfully cut to fit onto the original granite. When the black rock fell to the side, I could clearly see a carving of a caduceus previously hidden from view.

The impact of my words not only hit the stone but also belted Phoenix—he had been flying rapidly in my direction, but when the concussion of my words hit him, he ricocheted like a lead bullet off hardened steel. For the briefest moment, he looked like a comet, covered in fire, and leaving a trail of smoke in his wake. The blast knocked him out to the center of the cemetery.

From where I stood by the broken, obsidian obelisk, I could barely see him stand, but when he roared and thrust his fists into the sky, lightning danced over him and crackled up into the clouds above. The flies followed the dancing light and flew up into the cloud. Without warning, hot pebbles sprinkled down from the sky—small smoldering brimstone pellets. Everywhere they touched bare flesh they brought up red welts like sunburned freckles on my skin.

Phoenix took flight, hurtling up through the hail as if it were a sprinkling drizzle on a spring day. He hovered and glided, laughing as he reveled in his ability to make us feel pain.

Stripping off my T-shirt and holding it over my head to shield myself from the brimstone pebbles, I reached down into where my words had torn the earth open. There in the crevice under the fallen monument was a bag—a leather bag.

The stench of sulfur filled the air and the falling pebbles were getting hotter. The pelting became more than I could take as tiny blisters appeared on my arms. There was no extremely large monument or vault close for me to take cover. I lifted my shirt higher over my head and tried to block the barrage of burning hail. It only worked to slow the hot rocks. Flower and Stoney hid under the edge of a large bronze cross while Jimmy took shelter on the lea side of a standing vault. Roger huddled under the edge of the toppled monument where the tiny brimstones had less chance of hitting him. It didn’t work.