His words left the word silent, not the song of the wind or the chorus of any living thing was heard. I try to mumble out in my confusion in a flash, a green wall was formed right in front of me, formed from the many floating lights surrounding me and that wall was shattered. Adam sparkled and launched himself through it in the blink of an eye, he would have grabbed my neck if someone hadn't pulled me back first.
"Condense" I beardly made out the worlds through the rushing wind.
Unable to see who it was as they spun me around by the back of my collar, I was facing away to the massive green rectangular box shrinking and heading right for us. I began to choke again pulled back by the collar, I saw the Muslim girl was the one holding me she jumped back right into the wall! Right through the wall? we passed through, the feeling almost as if moving through water, before. It was all over in an instant and we landed again on the cracked tar of the road. Her still holding me by my collar as I stood on my knees trying to loosen her grip.
Banging Violently against his box it was unshaken by his attacks.
"Let me out Han!" I was him shouting out the corner of my eye and his eyes screaming bloody murder in my direction as his pounding and slashes grew more violent and intense. "This is my problem let me deal with it!"
"Not until you calm down!" Her shout was equally as passionate as his. As she finally let go of the back of my collar I leaned forward breathing a sigh of relief. The instant my hands touched the road I was also in a box forced to stay bowed facing the road.
"I'm not siding with him, See, I just need you to calm down." Her voice no longer shouted now focused on cooling down his anger. I hoped it was working, I couldn't tell I could only see the road!
Adam was now silent, leaning down in this silence I saw I had bearly enough room to see through my legs in his direction. I wish I hadn't discovered this. He was red all over, the blood that covered him was leaking nonstop hemorrhaging out like it was with his blade. With one last attack a slack against his box, Heavens knew how he managed a swing in there, a flash of red and green blinded me for a few seconds. My cries against the light answered as the warm healing power flowed through me again.
I flutter my eyes back to health and I see someone standing in a green box he wore a mustard yellow shirt that strained against his muscular figure it complimented his soft curly blond hair quite nicely. "Im calm han, im calm."
He stated lifting his hands in a placating gesture a large knife in his left hand. He slid it to the back under his shirt before showing his hands again. This seemed to have placated Hannah who started dissolving the box back into the light and recalled it back into herself over the next few seconds. Now free he slowly starts to walk over to us.
She for some reason decided not to give me the same treatment leaving me stuck in my box wriggling around to try and see what was happening. Adam pulled up next to me his face out of view.
"Can you face him towards us?" A good and sensible question that I quickly added on to.
"Please do or you can release me." My question didn't seem to have my desired effect of being let out but did earn me some grumbles and murmurs that I couldn't make out.
"HaaaHAaa...whaaa" my Laughter turned to a cry out in confusion as my box was lifted and then rotated 90° so I was face to face with Adam who was at eye level and violently smiling at me. It looked familiar to something but no matter how I tried to remember I just wasn't able to recall.
"So you want to tell us what happened since we last met?" Adam's question confused me, wasn't this the first time we were meeting?
"Out of luck, I was going to ask you the same thing." Again my bravado seemed to earn me more negative points.
"Mandella I think it's your time to shine." Patting Mandella on the back he moves over to in front of my box, the top seems to open as he brings up his bible and places it on my head to keep it open then brings his hands to the side of my head.
"What are you doing?"
"I am going to try and clear out whatever is clogged in your mind." Clasping his hands tighter around my temple he begins to glow much like Adam did earlier. Again with the echoing of two voices, he begins to read aloud
"This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be rebuilt,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them."
The strange ritual took a little over a minute. With his final word a hot searing pain begins to overtake me burning from deep within me. I begin to cough smoke and cry blood as the pain gets ever more intense. I try to cry out but only empty breaths escape me and just as quickly as it started the pain recedes. Leaving clarity in my body and mind like a piano after a retuning a crisp note played in my mind leaving me with a sense of right a sense of calm.
"Adam!" I shout out unintentionally as everything comes flooding back.
"Good, Welcome back Joshua, Glad you could join us this evening. Would you mind telling us what you were doing out so late?" his monotone was like a splash of cold water pulling me back to reality.
"I went to sleep, then I woke up with your hand on my neck." I try to not get him angry with my last words.
"Thank you but not that, what happened since we last saw you on Monday?" Still in monotone, he seemed impatient but his eyes seemed desperate.
"I went to the Bar after I left I can only remember hazy" As I say that my box finally disappears and I land flat on the ground.
"OK, let's go get a drink." I tried to hear a hint of sarcasm in his voice but I couldn't hear any.
He moves over and grabs me under his arm like carrying a child but he did it effortlessly. Then crouching down he gives me very specific instructions, blocks my ears, and screams. Just as I covered and was gonna ask why in a flash of light I was in the sky. My screams were soft in comparison to the screaming winds. Looking down on where we just were I see Hannah coming up right beside us.
Mandella was lifted in an off-white cloud much lower down than us but much more controlled and stayed close to us but much lower. The three of us start descending slowly. My screams have yet to let up since the jump. We landed on the cloud Mandella was controlling, it was soft as Adam set me down my feet on the cloud while still holding the back of my shirt.
"You ok?" Mandella asked concerened finally cutting off my screams and starting up my coughs.
"Yeah, all good, this is scary awesome! why don't you always travel like this?" I asked in stunned amazement through labored breaths.
"Inconvenient." Mandella says with a smile. Before I could even ask.
"It burns through his manna, looks conspicuous and you have to use aura to stand on it, There's no end to problems, but right now we need the high groud," Adam replied to my unasked question but sadly left me with more that I managed to get out first.
"What, what, aura?" the words barely left my
"Don't worry about it it not time for that yet."
"..." Again I spoke before he spoke.
"You want to go back into the box?" he says less threatening than he sounded on land but I would be damaged before I went into the box again so I tried to shut up for the rest of the ride. Not even seeing Hannah shaking her head at him. I just tried to enjoy the feeling but I was meant to be the map, directing was hard from a top-down view but we eventually managed to get there.
"So when are we going to land?" I ask after what felt like a solid 20 minutes of us just standing.
"Plan 4?" Mandella suggested to no reply, this seemed to discourage him as he went quiet again.
"Not bad but it is a bit too conspicuous because I say we first use our scouting spells then go plan 1." Adam laid out his reply concisely and confidently as he saw right through the situation.
"Talking?" Mandella asked his face a mask of confusion.
"Talking." Adam confirmed. After what felt like another 20 minutes with Hannah and Mandella casting various spells to no visible change. I started to get antsy Nothing was happening but everyone was different like a spring ready to be let loose.
"Now." At the sound of his voice the cloud begins to rapidly descend I would have screamed if Adam wasn't carrying and muffling me. Till we landed right in front of the bar. Adam sets me on my feet which was maybe not the right move as I run over to the street drain and vomit, I'm not sure whether it's the bar or the fact I have been whipped around with no to little regard. After taking a minute to recover the tree waiting on me Hannah was digging in the mandala's bag as Adam stood on guard around us with his hand on the handle of his knife.
"Water, gum?" She asks which I gratefully accept washing out my mouth and starting chewing to regain my composure.
Entering the Dionysus Sports Bar it is empty, waliking in on the creaking floorboards we instantly get the attention of the barman who made his way over to us till we were side by side.
"Hi, Mark how are you doing?" I stutter out in a poor attempt to start a conversation.
"Hi there have you been here before I don't quite recognise you." he responded quite friendly with a smile, his oice light and truthful with no hint of deception.
"You sure he was there?" Adam asked his voice monotone not a hint of emotion to be felt. I could only softly nod in affirmation, confused by his lack of any tells.
"And who are you?" Mark continued unworried, picking up a glass to clean. "If there is anything I can get for you.."
"Who did you make a contract with ..." Adam butted in not letting him finish his words now heavy and pointed.
"Sorry don't know what you talking about..." Angered almost shouting he tries to shoo us out of his shop amlost climbing over the counter.
"or who is your creditor is that better?" Adam still calm cut him off causing him to return to his spot behind the counter. He lowered his head down his eyes out of view and he began to smile. it pulled at his face I was surprised he hadn't started bleeding yet. Before I could register what was happening he threw his glass at my face and began to run away.
Two rushes of energy made their way through me first Adam threw his knife through the glass shattering it into fine dust before embedding itself into the liquor cabinet behind the bar. Then came hannahs green energy that expanded rapidly before boxing up Mark mid-step.
"What let me go!" Mark's voice was now hard and sharp it sounded harsher than any human voice could be but he wasn't given any more chance to speak. Mandella had rushed over covered his mouth and began to chant.
"This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be rebuilt,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them."
Smoke began to gush from his mouth and blood from his eyes as he tried to scieze but his confinement wouldn't let him much like it had with me it was gone as soon as it started only the faint smell of iron gave a false hint of what had happened. Mark began to slowly recover and Mandella removed his hand from his mouth as the box was absorbed by his body strengthening and healing him. Stunned Mark wasn't sure how to answer he began to mouth like a confused fish. He managed to take a breath and looked down at his right hand. Bringing it to his chest he smiles.
"Can you speak?" Adam's voice was kind of like I had heard a few times prior but it still made me think he was lying about caring but regardless of me it worked.
"ok.." he said in a small voice motioning for us to move closer, which we did.
"it goes after those who reak of regret and offers them a chance to change their fortune he offers them what they need, I don't know his name but he calls himself The Red Man..."
"and.." he muttered just loud enough to get our attention, his face paling and eyes watering.
"I'm sorry." a small voice left his mouth as his back was blown out and the racks of alcohol were covered in a fresh coat of blood. It was laid out Like a pair of broken blood wings that flared out over the wall I could see this creature laugh at us from out of view.
A Fallen Angel of Spilt Blood.
Flashes of bright light and green glow begin to fill the room as Hannah and Mandella chant and rush to Mark's side in an attempt to heal him my vision grows blurred and my ears start ringing as a cry begins to call out to me. But there was nothing to do I had got this man killed.