Judgement (The Twelve) (45 page)

Belching as his ample stomach rumbled, Priest decided to make an omelette to tide him over until breakfast at nine. But he wasn’t alone, Chris was sitting there drinking milk and eating buttered toast with jam on.

“Strawberry or
B
lackberry?” He asked

Chris had his mouth full and waited until he could speak, “Damson.”

Priest shuddered, “H
eathen
.”

Chris watched silently as Priest started to gather ingredients for his omelette. When
the omelette was ready
Priest and Chris both spoke at the same time, “I had a prophecy in the night.”

Priest
’
s eyebrow
s
arched as he stopped
eating
, “YOU, had a prophecy?”

Chris nodded, “I saw buildings on fire
, f
lames and smoke everywhere. I saw people screaming, running for there lives. I saw Edge battling with his father. I saw Anvil hesitate when he had the upper hand. I saw Edge strike him down.  I saw death Priest. I saw death.”

Priests face had turned white, “
Prophecies make me hungry. I was waiting until the others woke to tell them. Chris
,
I had the same prophecy
as you!
B
ut in mine I saw
you heal Edges wounds whilst Anvil lay dying, I saw you helping The Dark Chris.
”
Priest crossed himself, “We may have witnessed
you turning towards The Dark and
the b
eginning of Armageddon
.
”

Then
Priest belched
, “Omelette
s good though
”
As if that made all the difference.

The
late
autumn
sun rose like any other day, but on this day,
on Sunday,
the sky turned red, something to do with a massive cloud of dust blown in from the Sahara desert. So the weather forecasters stated live on Television
radio
and in the daily newspapers.

The people stared at the sky in awe, instead of traditional pale blue, or slate grey rolling clouds, they saw a ruddy red hue. It was something different for them to discuss at work. The nutters of course frothed at the mouth, ripped hair from there heads and wailed that the end was nigh.
Others within the Government read secret reports,
which
stat
ed
that th
e experts
that predicted the weather actually had no idea why the sky was red only over the UK.

“Fucking sky!” Speed exclaimed, “Have you seen it?”

“DON’T BLOODY SWEAR!!!”  Priest roared from out of sight within the bedroom area. Dust settled fro m the ceiling onto the kitchen counter.

Heartless grinned, “I wouldn’t piss him off if I was you.” He stage whispered.

Anvil glared at them both, “Yes Speed I’ve seen the sky. It’s that big thing that hangs over our heads.”

Speed zoomed round and round the room creating a mini tornado in his excitement.  Slash shot a knife across the room which t
hudded
in
to
the wooden window frame
just as Speed
skidded to a halt inches away from the knife. “Stop it.”
Slash
ordered quietly.

Speed glanced first to the knife, then the window, “
Actually that knife of yours was moving so fucking slowly I could have plucked it out of thin air. You throw another one at me and I’ll throw it back
and I’ll bet you won’t even see it, let alone catch it.
Now look out of the bloody window!
” He
shouted the last as he threw open
the heavy leaded glass window.

Anvil and the others strode over to glance up at the sky
. Anvil took one look and shouted
to
Priest that he was needed in a hurry. The others moved back to allow Chris to stare up at the blood red sky.

“
T
oday is the day.” He whispered.

Anvils head snapped from the sky to Chris, “You sure.”

Judgements voice filled the room, “Blood shall fill the sky
and will only
wash clear
once we have vanquished The Chosen One
in battle
.
”

Anvil asked,” It will be end of The Dark?”

Judgement answered, “
Hopefully but if not it will certainly prove to be t
he end of the beginning.”

Priest had arrived in a huff, “He took one quick look, crossed himself and said, “
The Devil has closed off
H
eaven until
we meet in battle
.
”

The Twelve stood looking at the sky for a few more minutes, then stepp
ing
back
they
hugged
and shook hands with each other.
Chris got a kiss on the lips from Patch. Together they prepared a hearty breakfast. Sitting around the dining table, that they had never all used at the same time before. They talked and laughed
at
shared memories that covered thousands of years. Chris sat and listened to them all.
H
e didn’t want to share
his memories
. Not the orphanage, not his step father or his short life living in a damp smelly cardboard house.

So he listened instead, soaking up living history. 
There stood
Anvil
,
as old as the hills,
a
Danish
Bronze Age black smith
, w
ho
just happened to be
his biological
parent
.
Then there was
Rage
,
a
n
ancient
Norse warrior,
with iron helm, axe and s
hield
,
fighting his sworn enemy, the Vikings
.
Huntress
who lived and died
during medieval times,
a lonely female trying to provide food for her family
hunting in
the Kings
forest with bow and arrow
and subsequently h
u
n
g for killing a deer
.
Priest, well his history was one of over indulgence
yet still ancient as time itself.
Now seemingly gifted with prophetic dreams direct from The Creator!

Then there was Slash and Hot Cross, both amazing stories. Young Speed his life cut short like his
own
.
The gunslinger called
Bulls Eye and his life in the Wild West
.
Metal handed
Heartless
,
so
full of anger,
living up to his name,
searching for
a promise made
. But what was the promise
?

He couldn’t forget
this mysterious Chameleon, where was he now?
A man with no face who could assume th
e identity of any living person, why did he feel so important to Chris?

F
inally
reality
sank home. Here he was surrounded by immortal beings, once dead and then re-born
a
nd he was now one of them!  He thought about The Dark and the creatures th
ey controlled and what of the Chosen
One
, a
young girl called Coffee
?
His head ached with the enormity of what he was trying to
absorb
.
W
hat was he to do?

Big Ben struck noon, they heard the clock strike
because
the window had been left open.

Anvil slammed his hammer against the floor, cracking the re-enforced concrete, “Gather around my friends. “

He turned to his son, “
Crossroads bone yard?”

Chris
was about to agree when Judgement spoke clearly inside his head, “
Today
t
he devils spawn shall either win or be defeated. The outcome hangs upon a knife edge
. Today brother shall spare brother. The lost One shall return and
the
imbalance will be
revealed.
Today is your day. I shall not lead you for you shall lead them.
Go to the place least expected.
’

Priest
added, “I
t’s where we were told they would be.
”

Chris shook his head, “No we go down to Embankment and the bridge.
”

Anvil looked into his sons eyes for ages, finally he nodded, “So be it.”

Patch walked over and kissed
Chris
on the cheek, “I love you.” She whispered.

Chris took a deep breath, filling his lungs until he thought they would burst. Closing his eyes he savoured this one last moment of calm.

Explosively he exhaled, “Right let’s go kick some arse.”

It wasn’t exactly what Priest had hoped for. Something more biblical maybe, but it would do.

“
Amen.
”
he added.