A series of mountains rimmed the northern side of Purge. Seraph flew to their summit and stood on the brink of a cliff that looked down into the heart of the city. As the storm caught up to him, he pulled out his Bible and turned to the last book, the Book of Revelation, and read for all to hear.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake.”
Seraph projected his mind into everyone inside the city, shaking the ground and taring away a ring of earth around the city so none could escape.
“And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.”
The storm reached the city and blocked out the rising sun, darkening everything in Seraph’s sight.
“And the moon became as blood.”
He allowed enough of the moon’s light through the clouds so it shone red.
“And the stars of heaven…”
Seraph formed a shining white orb in his hand and threw it high above the city where it hung, glowing like a star beneath the clouds. More followed, mimicking the constellations. It took several minutes to make all the orbs and it was taxing even to Seraph’s expanded powers. People in the city looked up with wonder and fear.
“Fell unto the earth.”
Like falling stars, the orbs streaked down from the sky, exploding with terrible force. In moments the city was burning and screams mingled with noise of breaking glass and warping metal. In addition to the orbs, lightning and tornadoes struck down anything left standing.
“Babylon the Great is fallen.” Seraph said.
His body shone white for whatever survivors there may be to see like a beacon overlooking the ocean in a storm, but the only escape he offered was death. Energy welled up in his hands as he brought them together in front of his chest. The black orb compressed into white and still he poured more into it. The orb tried to break free but as it leaked out its energy Seraph’s shining body reabsorbed it and fed it back into the orb. The white orb crushed in on itself until it was a point of light so bright even Seraph couldn’t bare to look at it.
“This is for my father.”
He released the point, burning between his hands, and it streaked through the air to where the remnants of the library stood. Light flashed and the library disintegrated, radiating a shock wave through the rest of the city. What few structures had been standing were leveled. What sounds there had been, what cries still echoed, were silenced.
The storm abated and Seraph stopped glowing. His wings retracted and he fell to his knees.
“It is finished,” Seraph said but the pain and the fear that he’d felt all those years didn’t leave as he thought it would.
“And in those days shall men seek death,” he quoted again from the Book of Revelation, “And shall not find it: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”
Seraph hadn’t meant to survive the ordeal. He’d thought the attack would drain him until there was nothing left. Now he didn’t know what to do.
Looked out over the city, only now did he begin to see the horror of what he’d had done.
It took some time without the energy to fly but eventually Seraph reached about the middle of the city. He had no specific destination in mind, still in shock over what he’d done and silently weeping.
“Why?” He shouted up at the clearing sky as he fell to his knees. “Am I cursed?” He searched desperately around for respite, but without success. “Why do you hate me so much? Did I sin? Did my parents? Why do you do these things to me?”
Seraph punched the ground and the ground cracked beneath the blow.
“I’m damned,” Seraph whimpered through short ragged breaths. “AND IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!” he screamed, rearing up before collapsing back down. “I hate you. I curse your name. I curse my father for teaching me about you.” Seraph mustered the rest of his furry and shook his fists at the sky. “KILL ME!” Seraph begged, “KILL ME NOW!” Seraph wept.
“How could you do this?”
Seraph’s head snapped up. Erick stood a few feet away from him.
“So this is what you send me?” Seraph asked softly, glancing back up to the sky.
“How could you do this?” Erick repeated and grabbed Seraph by the collar, raising him into the air. “There were good people here! Innocent people who had nothing to do with The People!” He yelled at Seraph’s face.
“They deserved it.” Seraph knew Erick was right but couldn’t bring himself to admit it.
Erick threw Seraph back down.
“Do you even know how many people lived here? How many people you’ve just murdered?”
Seraph couldn’t stand the shouting any more and threw himself into the air. Seraph pulled Erick up with him briefly before throwing him back to the ground.
“Shut up!” Seraph yelled at him. “There’s nothing you or I can do about it now.”
Erick regained his footing and rose to face him.
“Nomad,” Erick began.
“I’m not The Wandering Nomad anymore, Erick! I’m Seraph now,” he shouted at him.
Erick eyed him cautiously, seeming to weigh the consequences of what he wanted to say or do next. Finally he settled on, “You’re no Seraph. You have more in common with a fallen angel than anything else.”
“Just leave me alone,” Seraph said as his own guilt threatened to overwhelm him. “I’m not going to travel with you anymore.
“I didn’t come her for that,” Erick replied and he began to form an energy blast in his hands. “I’m the only one who can hold you accountable for all the lives you’ve taken.”
Seraph would have laughed but he was still tired and uncertain about whether or not he could defend himself against Erick right now.
“You don’t need to do that,” Seraph assured him. “We should both just turn around and walk away. You’ll never see me again.”
Erick released the energy blast and Seraph assumed his white form, ready to absorb the energy blast. Just as he did however, Erick flew forward at incredible speed. Erick caught up with and reabsorbed his blast of energy, and then punched through Seraph’s chest.
In his white form Seraph could absorb energy but he was fragile when it came to physical attacks. He screamed out, his voice strange and ethereal, as Erick’s sonic boom struck him, further blasting off Seraph’s outer shell that contained his energy. Nothing but wisps of white vapor remained of Seraph as he fell towards the ground. Erick followed, blue flame burning in both hands and ready to strike, as Seraph fought to keep myself from blowing away in the wind.
Seraph had enough control to raise his own shield to prevent Erick from striking him again. He tried to speak but it was too much for him. Slowly, Seraph’s body stopped dissolving.
“What you did, Nomad, was terrible. Just let yourself die.”
It would be easy, and in truth it was what Seraph wanted, but he didn’t want to go this way. He didn’t want to lose to Erick. Seraph’s body regained some definition and the parts that had faded away began to return.
“You have seen what your father was willing to do for you Nomad. He was forced to sacrifice his wife and daughter for you, and eventually, even his own life was taken for you.”
Seraph’s arms and legs were back together and the white shell began to spread back out from his chest.
“Do you think your father would be proud of you, Nomad? He did so much in the hopes that you would some day be free. That you would be more than just a weapon to hurt and kill innocent people.”
A few cracks remained in Seraph’s shell but they were sealing fast. Erick noticed and he had stopped talking and took a few steps back.
“What’s wrong Erick?” Seraph said, his voice still breathy and gasping. “Just because I’m going to Hell anyway and you almost killed me just now doesn’t mean you have to worry.” He smiled wickedly and began to rise. “You knew about my parents, you knew about my sister. For all I know you may even be able to tell me what my real name is.”
The bit of Seraph that cared fade away and all the remained was Seraph’s anger and guilt. Erick seemed as good as any target to focus it on. Erick was still backing up when Seraph’s wings formed.
“Do you like them?” Seraph asked, pointing to his wings. “They’re new.”
He raised myself into the air and began flying towards Erick, who in turn took flight and began weaving in and out of the broken buildings and debris.
“Don’t do this Nomad.” Erick called as Seraph continued to chase him through the city.
Seraph grabbed at Erick’s leg but only managed to brush his foot.
“Tag, you’re it,” Seraph cackled.
Erick threw an energy blast over his shoulder.
“What’s this?” Seraph said, “I didn’t even have to move out of the way for that!”
Erick turned hard and doubled back, flying right by Seraph. Seraph managed to punch Erick in the ribs but didn’t think he’d done any real damage to him. He’d just spun back around and was in pursuit of Erick again when a wall from a collapsing building hit him from behind. Erick’s energy blast had hit it and brought it down. Erick stopped in the air and watched as Seraph fell beneath its weight.
“You will not bring me down.” Seraph said and healed a gash on his head before it could bleed too badly. “Not one more drop of my blood will be spilled.”
Seraph pushed back against the building and threw it at Erick who waved his hand and the mortar turned to dust. The bricks cascaded off his shield in brilliant blue light.
“You’re going to have to do better than that Nomad.” Erick said as he flew out of the rubble. “Remember,” he added, “I’ve had a lot more practice than you.”
He dared to enjoy this? Seraph tried to pull him out of the air again, but he pushed back and Seraph couldn’t get a grip on him. His mind was a different story. Seraph took hold of Erick’s thoughts and ripped them out, leaving his mind blank. Erick shot backward and then straight down into the ground as he tried to compensate. Seraph attacked his thoughts again and again until he had blasted himself through the wall of one of the few remaining skyscrapers. Seraph followed him through the hole in the wall in search for him but Erick’s mind was finally hidden from Seraph.
“So,” he said, “You’ve finally learned how to shield your mind from me.”
Seraph listened for any sound of movement. Three stories above, and still climbing, Erick scuffed against the wall. Seraph burst through floor after floor in pursuit and caught up with him on the sixth floor. Erick floated outside the window right in front of him. Black energy welled up in Seraph’s hands but before he could release it the ceiling collapsed. Seraph’s own energy explode in his face and the more than thirty floors above came crashing down. If he was going to beat Erick, he had to stop allowing himself to be tricked by him. Debris blew off his shield and Seraph blasted his way out of the falling building.
“That was fun Erick,” he told him, “But I’m done playing now.”
Erick waited for him on the outside. Seraph didn’t waist any more time on speech. He charged and had two black orbs of energy ready when he flew unexpectedly face first into Erick’s shield, extended for this very situation, and Seraph lost control of the orbs in his hands. They spun away and concussed Seraph between their twin explosions.
“You’re blinded by your own rage, Nomad.” Erick warned and flew off.
Rage? Seraph thought, I’ll show you rage. And he looked up at the sky.
Erick sensed the change at once. He began looking around for the attack and when he scanned the ground below, Seraph brought a bolt of lightning down from above.
The bolt knocked Erick unconscious and he fell through the air trailing smoke.
“I’m not done with you yet.” Seraph muttered, calling off the storm and throwing himself forward to catch Erick.
He revived without much effort on Seraph’s part and when he felt Erick’s consciousness return Seraph threw him into the wall of another building.
“How are you feeling Erick?” He called to him as the building collapsed around Erick.
Erick, still groggy, didn’t realize what was happening around him until it was too late. He tried to get his shield up to protect himself from the majority of the building’s force, but he wasn’t quick enough.
Seraph walked through the rubble until he found him pinned beneath a chunk of wall. Seraph punched through the debris and lifted him out, unconscious and severely injured. Again, Seraph healed his wounds and revived him. Erick opened his eyes, clearly having difficulty focusing on Seraph.
“Having fun?” Seraph asked and threw him back down into the rubble. “I can do this all day, Erick. I’ll heal you up and break you back down until I get bored, and then…”
Seraph wasn’t sure what he’d do then. Erick lay huddled and weak on the ground, curled up in the fetal position. As Seraph walked over to grab him again, Erick turned, revealing an energy blast and fired it nearly point blank into Seraph’s face. It was a valiant attempt but by this point Erick was so drained that his attack barely did anything.
All around them, chunks of debris rose up into the air before shooting forward to strike Erick. In an instant Erick’s shield was up but he couldn’t maintain it for long. Seraph’s own energy stores were almost depleted and he wanted to end the fight soon. Reaching out with both his hand and mind, Seraph gripped Erick’s shield and began to squeeze
Erick fought hard, his hands at the center of his chest, one over the other and palms facing each other, to focus his energy as he strained against Seraph’s will. For a moment it seemed that they were in a stalemate. And then a crack appeared right in front of Erick’s face. The crack spider-webbed out across the whole shield until it shattered like a ball of glass, its shards turning inward on Erick. Seraph smiled up at the sky triumphant when a large amount of energy began speeding toward him. Looking back, Erick had dodged out of the collapsing shield and thrust the shards back around to strike Seraph.
There were too many to track all at the same time and though Seraph swiped most of them away, several struck his body, a particularly large one hit right in the middle of his forehead. Immediately Seraph lost all control of his powers. The debris still in the air, the storm, his flight all failed. He fell to earth and his wings twisted painfully beneath him as he hit the ground. He writhed on the ground before flashing white and absorbing the shards of energy. His body healed but thin scars remained.
“How long are we gonna do this?” Seraph asked Erick.
Erick looked away as though he was considering being done and then threw another energy blast. Seraph turned white out of reflex and knew his mistake at once. Erick dove into the air again but the fight had weakened him and now Seraph was the faster one. A long piece of a metal rebar shot up from the ground as Erick passed over and skewered him, jerking Erick to a stop. Erick screamed and tried to pull free of the rebar but Seraph bent it around to prevent him from escaping that easily.
The two of them were almost face to face now. Seraph let Erick struggle for a moment and then thrust the bar up and over to a wall several yards away, pinning Erick to it. His feet hung a few feet above the ground.
The wall swayed, pivoted, and then fell on top of Erick. Seraph clapped and walked over to pull Erick out, heal him, and begin again when the entire area exploded. Erick emerged, glowing acidic blue and completely healed. He closed the distance between them and punched Seraph in the stomach, followed by a knee to the thigh. Seraph tried to return the strike but Erick deftly deflected each attack only to punish Seraph again and again.
“You thought I’d taught you everything in a week?” Erick said as he boxed Seraph on the right ear and then the left.
Erick was too close to raise a shield and while Seraph could block most of Erick’s strikes, none of his own found their target. Both of them were moving faster and faster, pushing their limits when Seraph saw an opening. He lashed out only for Erick to duck, wrap one arm around Seraph’s outstretched wrist, and then punch through Seraph’s elbow, breaking his arm. In the moment of shock and pain that gripped Seraph before he could heal, Erick spun him around pinned him from behind, and swept them both up into the air. A moment later they were diving towards the ground.
With a final effort, Seraph formed a black orb between himself and Erick and detonated it, blasting Erick off of his back and allowing himself to fly to the ground relatively unharmed. Erick, on the other hand, crash into the ground.
They were both out of energy now, Seraph could tell, and he collapsed into a sitting position beside Erick.
“I’m done,” Seraph said. “Please let’s be done. I’m going to sit here for a few minutes, catch my breath, and then I’m going that way.” Seraph pointed. “You can go anywhere else you like, just don’t follow me.”
Erick didn’t reply. Seraph continued to wait but the silence grew more and more uncomfortable.
“You unconscious again or what?” Seraph gave Erick’s shoulder a gentle shake.
No response.
Seraph couldn’t sense Erick’s mind but he’d assumed that was because he was out of energy. Now he wondered if there was a different reason. He checked for a pulse, hoping, but found nothing.
“No.” he whispered as he turned Erick over to look at his face properly.
Erick’s eyes reflected the sky above with no indication of awareness.
“Erick!” Seraph cried frantically.
He tried to heal Erick but lacked the energy.
“NO!” Seraph shouted at him. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!”
He tried to throw Erick but without his powers Erick’s body was too heavy and he slumped back to the ground.
“I never meant to go this far,” he said, “Erick please . . . come back.” But Seraph knew that he couldn’t.
Seraph tried again to pick him up but his body was getting weaker by the minute and he buckled beneath the weight.
“Come on!” Seraph yelled, pulling himself out form under Erick’s body as his eyes began to tear up. “DO SOMETHING!”
He tried one last time to lift him up, even though he knew it was pointless. The guilt and shame overwhelmed Seraph, replacing his anger. Seraph let Erick sink back to the ground and lie there for a few moments. Eventually, Seraph began to walk away on unsteady legs. He only made it a few feet before he collapsed, completely exhausted, and passed out.
Hours passed. When Seraph awoke it was drawing near evening.
What do I do now? He asked himself.
Erick’s body was still right there, pale and growing cold. Seraph had some energy now and he opened the ground beneath Erick, burying him. It was the least he could do. There was no point in making a headstone. Who would come here to visit Erick?
No one.
Seraph took his Bible and placed it on mound of earth.
“I won’t be needing this. Not where I’m going.”
Seraph rose up into the air, unfurling his wings as he ascended. The first set folded over his eyes.
“No one is worthy to see His Glory.”
Around the perimeter of Purge City were emergency vehicles and personnel, searching in vain for any survivors. Seraph ignored them, not bothering to hide himself from them. He was done with his powers; all that they had ever brought was pain and suffering.
A few of the emergency personnel below looked up when they noticed Seraph rising in the distance. His second pair of wings blossomed and they folded over Seraph’s lips.
“No one is worthy to speak before His Glory.”
Debris from all around began to rise with Seraph, circling tighter and tighter as his third and final set of wings emerged. This gleaming pair of wings folded around to cover his feet.
“No one is worthy to stand in His Glory.”
The debris spun faster and faster, drawing closer to Seraph with each revolution. Seraph turned into his white energy form and smiled as the debris began striking him, cracking his outer shell.
“Thus ends Seraph, The Wandering Nomad to the end.”
A deafening explosion went out as Seraph’s shell was crushed and his energy was fully released, slowly dissipating over the destroyed city.
After a few moments, all was still.
