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

Phoenix gasped and flew to retrieve the sword he left embedded in the ground. Gripping it with both hands, he lifted it toward the heavens. “No sword can stand against the mighty Sword of Ishtar.”

Flower struggled to her feet—recovering from the ordeal of healing Stoney’s fatal wounds. She cried out, “Phoenix, I think you are wrong. This is a sword forged by the angels. I’d wager that it can sever angelic bone from immortal flesh.”

“Phoenix, is that fear I see in your face?” I mocked.

His gait no longer full of swagger, he lumbered. His wings dropped to his sides. They lost the luster he radiated in self-bolstering flutters. In silence, he held Ishtar’s sword at the ready. It blazed into a torrent of fire four feet long.

With swords poised, angel and mortal champion circled, keeping a significant distance between their blades. Jimmy dodged a second too slow, and the edge of Phoenix’s blade burned through the armor and into his skin, leaving a seared gouge across his chest. On the return swing, Jimmy jumped back, the fiery tip slicing through the blue glow only centimeters away from his skin.

The angel boasted, “You are no match for my glorious splendor—my spectacular skill. Surrender before you feel my true wrath.”

Again Phoenix parried and jabbed. This time he cut a deep gouge in Jimmy’s left arm. The big guy staggered as if to fall. On Phoenix’s return swing, Jimmy straightened his leg behind him and raised his sword to block the searing hot blade.

Edge against edge, wicked and righteous metal clashed, sparks flew, and Jimmy pushed his sword forward. Jimmy’s residual swing looked oddly like a batter’s following through after hitting a home run.

The Sword of Gabriel had cut completely through Ishtar’s flaming blade. When Phoenix drew back, The Sword of Ishtar was two feet shorter. The fallen child of heaven gaped at it in disbelief.

“Come at me again,” Jimmy yelled. “I’ll slice off the rest of your devilish sword of death, and stuff it down your throat.”

Anger—no, nothing less than ultimate rage overtook the angel. He lifted his arms to heaven and roared again.

Jimmy lunged, thrusting the righteous blade at the winged hellion. Phoenix used the blunt sword like a bat, slapping The Sword of Gabriel from Jimmy’s grip. It flew and tumbled, landing fifteen feet away—returning to its disc-like form.

The angel slashed back and forth, stepping close to Jimmy in hopes one of his blows would make contact.

Jimmy ducked low, sliding under the blade’s to-and-fro movement. Emerging inches away from Phoenix’s back, the glowing knight grabbed the angel’s arms and pulled, forcing him to drop the broken sword behind him. He wrapped his forearm across the angel’s throat and locked it tight. With Phoenix in another headlock, Jimmy again pounded Phoenix’s head.

A rush of wings and the wicked child of heaven lifted off the ground—taking Jimmy with him. Phoenix shook and projected a forceful blast from his wings, but instead of dropping back to Earth, the big guy locked his legs around phoenix’s waist and continued to pound. With Jimmy’s awkward mass pressing against the narrow space between Phoenix’s wings, the angel hardly managed to stay airborne.

Owl-like, Phoenix rotated his head into an impossible position and opened his mouth—baring his teeth. Before Jimmy could stop, he socked a pile driver into that open maw and those razor-sharp teeth. Both angel and mortal screamed in pain.

Jimmy fell twenty feet before landing on his back with a thud. He stared at his blood-covered hand. Jimmy’s face grew stern and resolve showed in his eyes. It was the same look he took on when he talked about his drunkard father. I identified it as hate. It looked to be fueling his rage and his stubborn will. The big guy’s armor blinked off, then back on as he tried to stand. He looked like he was forcing the last push-up in Coach Garcia’s callisthenic regiment. He gazed at the ground. Realization flashed in his eyes. He had fallen next to the talisman. There it lay, just beyond his reach.

Phoenix landed directly in front of Jimmy. He put one foot on Jimmy’s back and stood over him.

Stoney advanced on the demon sheriff and slashed the air before him. The enraged monster staying out of the reach of the blessed blades retreated one floating step at a time. After what seemed an eternity of cautious dodging, the monster flexed his claws to an impressive nine inches and jabbed them toward Stoney’s face.

The hippie blocked the strike and sliced a claw off the demon’s knuckle before advancing again. The possessed sheriff back-stepped down the road and retreated between the two obelisks.

Stoney swung again, forcing the wretched demon backward. Slowly they inched toward the gate and the edge of the barrier. Enraged, Stoney slashed through the air, barely missing the retreating hellspawn. It backed out of the gate, passing through the barrier to the outside. The supernatural shield around the cemetery glistened with flashes of colored light. Once outside the gate, the demon-sheriff fell to the ground. Stunned, he staggered to his feet and charged the barrier. Hitting the supernatural astral shielding, he bounced back to the ground. Like rage incarnate, the hellish monster hammered on the barrier with his remaining fist.

The demon shook violently, then stood still. Sparks flew out from his shoulder where a new limb slowly emerged. The muscles and sinew wound together. Bone sprouted—regenerating. When the arm could move again, the demon clasped his fists together and pounded the barrier. Flashes of light sparkled, but the shield remained strong.

With the Sheriff no longer a threat, Stoney ran back to Flower. She had propped herself up against the monument of the harp-playing angel to allow herself time to recover from the tedious ordeal of healing Stoney.

Jimmy moved exceptionally fast for his size when he leg-swept