Evil - Chapter 47
“Why is Margaret so important to you?” I asked Prince Yimnit as we walked through the foyer of the palace, which was as ostentatious, no, more so, than anything I had seen before.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
“Why is Margaret so important to you?” I asked Prince Yimnit as we walked through the foyer of the palace, which was as ostentatious, no, more so, than anything I had seen before. Long purple banners embroidered with large cursive U’s fell from a high ceiling carved with angels, gods, flowers, and demons. Elegant tapestries hung from every wall, depicting King Ulthar, usually topless, as he fought bears and armies in equal measure. Somebody had an inferiority complex, that was for sure.
“Did you know that King Ulthar had two sons when he came to this world?” Prince Yimnit asked as if he was asking my favorite color. “Of course you didn’t. Any information on my brother Clevin was expunged from the records. When I came here, I was four, just barely old enough to remember, and my brother, he had just been born, one of a set.”
“Twins?” Margaret said.
“Yes,” Prince Yimnit said. “Powerful magic in twins.”
“What happened to him?” she asked.
Prince Yimnit bit his lip angrily. “My father—our father—was obsessed with returning home to my mother. He found an ancient spell that would allow him to travel on the paths of the gods again, but it required a sacrifice from his own world to light the way.”
“Oh no,” I said, slowing. “He didn’t.”
He nodded. “He killed my brother to open the path, but when it opened, I got scared and ran away. The bridge was unstable, and my father had to make a choice, my life or you and mother’s. He charged my uncle, his cavalier, with finding your mother and bringing you back home while he stayed back with me. A slight he has never allowed me to forget.”
Margaret sighed. “My mother…she’s dead…”
“I see,” Prince Yimnit said. “How?”
“In battle with your uncle,” I said. “They came for Margaret, for both of them, and I guess she died in the crossfire.”
“Horrible.” Prince Yimnit thought for a moment. “Our uncle was supposed to use you as a sacrifice, just like the king used Clevin years earlier, to return my mother to him. I don’t think anyone thought it would take so long to find you. Mother must have been a powerful witch.”
Margaret nodded. “She was.”
Prince Yimnit sighed. “After my brother’s sacrifice, my father set about making a life here and found that he had the power to charm the royals of this place. Eventually, he set about building an empire.” Prince Yimnit turned to Margaret. “With your blood, he will return to Earth and claim what he believes is his birthright, the complete domination of two worlds.”
“He’s awful,” I said. “We have to stop him.”
Prince Yimnit continued with us down the hall. “And so you shall. I have done unspeakable things in his name, and tonight that all ends, by your hand.”
“Why couldn’t you kill him?” I asked, following next to him.
“I am not strong enough to go against my own father. It is my great shame.”
“I don’t trust you,” I grumbled.
“Nor should you. And yet, it seems to be your only choice.”
“No,” I whispered to him. From the corner of my eye, a pink cloud of smoke flashed. It was Kimberly, bringing Director Frente’s troops. “I could kill you both, father and son.”
Prince Yimnit laughed. “And how would your puny rebellion quell the unrest in the city? You are twenty left, if that. We still have an army. No, you need me if you hope to have peace.” He stopped in front of the doors to the throne room. “Let us get through this one thing and then deal with the next.”
He clapped his hands, and two Jackboots opened the golden doors. We walked into the hall, which felt much bigger without a thousand different nobles inside staring at us. The last time I was in this room, with Madam Fantasmo, the gods rest her soul, it felt small and claustrophobic. Now, it seemed as though a football field could squeeze inside of it, or at least a small basketball court.
The doors that I hadn’t noticed my first time in the throne room were open now, and I could see the glowing cylinder in the next room, tended by a squad of Jackboots. We approached the throne, where King Ulthar sat, clutching the massive scepter.
“I have brought them to you, Father,” Prince Yimnit said.
The king’s eyes were stone cold, narrowing into little beads. “These are the children that have caused so much trouble.” He stood. “Look at them. They are puny and wretched. It is an insult that they have been able to do so much to thwart our efforts.” He walked down toward us. “Still, you have done little more than irritate, like a pebble in the shoe of a giant.” He spun around me. “Your deaths will show there is nowhere that is not under our watchful eye, and no one can contend with my reign, even if they come from beyond the stars.” Turning to Margaret, he said. “And you will return me to the world I once knew, this time as a conquering hero.”
Gunshots rang out from the hallway, and the Jackboots clattered through the hall, trying to defend against our ambush. The lights to the room fell, though the light from the cylinder still burned brightly.
“What is happening?” the king shouted.
“The rebellion must be mounting a final assault!” Prince Yimnit said.
The king screamed to the Jackboots. “Take them down! Leave none alive!” As the Jackboots filed out of the room, King Ulthar smiled at me. “I only knew you should try something so foolis—”
A flash of pink light exploded behind him, and blood fell down his royal purple robe. Kimberly pulled the dagger out of the king’s back and wiped it on her coat. Then, she held it up again toward Prince Yimnit.
“That was so very satisfying.” She lunged for the prince. “And now, for you.”
“Wait!” I shouted, holding her back for an instant. “We might need him for the transition.”
“No,” Kimberly growled. “We need to kill him now before his evil spreads. We have this one chance to—”
Prince Yimnit clapped his hands, and a shockwave shot out, knocking Margaret and me back toward the throne. “Fools. Do you really think this was about a silly throne?”
“Yes,” Margaret replied. “You’re saying it’s not?”
“My father thought so small.” Prince Yimnit advanced on us. “He wanted to use the power of the gods, but I found that with the right weapon, you can become a god!”
“A weapon?” Margaret said.
“Yes, little sister.” He reached down and pried the scepter from his dead father’s hands. “What is bound inside this scepter can bend the will of a god.” He gazed at it and then, in one swift motion, smashed it into the ground until it shattered. From inside of the scepter, he pulled out a long two-handed sword. Prince Yimnit gripped its hilt. “With this weapon, I will become a god.”
“I can’t let you do that!” I screamed, rushing toward him.
Prince Yimnit raised his hand and ice shot from it. “I have learned new tricks since last we met!”
I fell back toward Kimberly. The moment I touched her, she flashed us to the other side of the room, where she grabbed me and flung me toward Prince Yimnit. I curled into a ball and hit him in the stomach with all the force I could muster. He fell backward, and Margaret pushed out her hands to cast a fireball. It didn’t have to kill him. It just had to be a distraction. I ran toward the cylinder, and as I passed Kimberly, I screamed, “Keep him busy!”
I sprinted toward the device in the next room. It had only been moments since the king died, and the Jackboots were making their way back toward me. Unberiler, I said under my breath, searching the console until I found it.
“Hey!” The Jackboots raised their guns. “Stop there!”
I ignored them. I ran around the device until I found it, in big letters. Unberiler. I flipped up the panel below and found three wires—yellow, blue, and black. What was the order? Think, Anjelica. The shouts were getting louder and mixing with gunfire. I drowned them all out, every one of them, and thought back to the underworld and the words of Doctor Jortensur. The answer entered my brain from the ether: Blue, yellow, black. I cut the wires in that order. When I was done, I pressed the panel down again and slammed the button. The whole room went white.
I barely felt the light against my cheek as my shirt filled with wet, sticky blood. I counted three bullets before I fell to the ground, gasping and wheezing, and then there was darkness.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.