Armageddon
by Robert M. Velkym

   She stood on the battle field, the purple swirl of magic weaving around her form as she looked onto the field of carnage. The black mist of evening rung low over the corpses of her dead companions, she could barely make out the charred remains of her school, which two hours before had been in perfect condition.

   The mist began to stir. She snapped to her senses in the grim light of a flickering streetlight. She raised her gun and fire one shot at the gray form moving the mist on the backdrop of night. The low muffled thump of a body falling caught the ears of the woman. She ejected her clip, which fell to the ground with a dull metallic clank. She pulled out another long clip and placed into is home in the handle of her mini nine. She began walking, settling into a slow, easy gate. Her legs carried her across the crumpled and misshapen bridge, her footfalls echoing off the surrounding mountains as her heart beat loudly in the back of her throat.

   She had to find Bob her lost friend. She kicked at corpses turning them over to be identified, none resembled her friend. She kicked a body off the bridge to make passage, a wave of nausea washed over her as the body landed with a crunch, coming to rest in a very unnatural position that no living person could ever achieve. She couldn't bring herself to look at the body again, the taste of bile was far too strong in her mouth. She whispered a silent prayer to St. Michael and the purple mist flared white. Her aura dispelling all of the stale mist around her in a bubble. How could the world get so weird so fast, she asked herself. The stench of decay and death hung heavy in the air, she stretched and looked around.

   Her clothes clung to her body, blood and sweat making them almost drip off of her. The air was hot and stuffy, the burning buildings throwing up clouds of toxic gas as the plastic/metal building twisted into monuments to the death god that set them a blaze. The path of carnage was clear into the direction of the large gym structure. She cautiously made her way toward the gym, the last place she had been since this chaos had erupted. She came to the steps, a lazy mist drifted down the cement steps causing a waterfall of sorrow. She felt the despair, the loneliness, the fear. She began down calling out Bob's name. No reply, she called again, a wheezy croak mumbled her name. She jumped down the last five stairs and darted into the twisted blue metal doors. Bob knelt in a gigantic pile of decomposing bodies. The wreak of death hung heavy and thick in the high rafters of the building.

   Bob looked up, his body bathed in a strange blue-white light, his eyes glowing red with the some mystical powers yet to be discovered by her. He yelled out in a babble of both laughter and horror. She was overwhelmed by the sound, vomiting all over the dead, blood caked body. She needed a piece of gum really bad.

   "Bob what has happened to you?" Bob looked up his eyes penetrating her. She looked on in disbelief as the shadows began to grow around him. She took a step back as a giant thing loomed over the kneeling man. It was indescribable- it was humanoid, with a large bloated, hairless body. As it stood two immense bat like wings unfolded, each ending in a evil looking talon. The woman broke out in goose flesh, she reached for her gun, her hand reaching reassuringly around the cool steel. She aimed for its head.

   "This is my time!" Bob said as the monster stepped over him and jumped into the air.

   "Bob what have you done? Give the book to me." She shouted over the creature's grunts and growls. She took a step forward, raised the gun and discharged a shot. The firepower rocked her back on her heals as the bullet streamed at its prey. The shell hit home and punctured the creatures head, blowing out the back skull casing. Blood spew from the wound, blood and beetles. The little things fell on the hard wood floor, each making a metallic clank as it hit, then a tapping noise as they scurried around to amass.

   They were like ink, covering everything they touched in a even blanket of black. The swarm moved at her, she panicked. Bullets ran down on the creature like rain. More holes opened and released the bugs, but the body quickly turned into hamburger as the Black Talon bullets ripped into the soft flesh. With the creature gone the bugs dispersed, each finding some way out into the world of nature.

   Bob rose to his feet.

   "Meehaha, Anu arise and empower me. I am the carnate of Khorne. Power the element to me. May the god of war and blood be reborn!!" The body of Bob lifted of the ground in a sudden surge of energy. She took this all in; the blood, the demon, the friend of hers becoming a god, then she charged.

   She took ten long strides, closing the space between herself and Bob, her feed crushing everything in their path. She ran up the pile of bodies searching for the black book. She saw it in his backpack and grabbed it. Bob looked down and struck her in the chest, knocking her 20 feet across the room. She landed hard, right on her backpack and her nine. The air rushed out of her chest as she doubled over in pain.

   Bob was ten feet above the pile as his body was racked by cosmic forces. The laughter of thousands echoed off the walls, screams, yells, and strange noise emanated from everything. The walls began to bleed, the ceiling began to rain, the floor began to tremble. His body grew. Horns burst from his forehead, his hands becoming claws, his clothes becoming armor, and his entire body turned a deep dark blood red.

   She regained her composure as the transformation was in its final stages. She opened the book and searched for the page, the page of closing. She founded it and the floor began to shake, the gate had been open too long.

   "The wind of the east remember," she began. "The spirit of the west remember"

  "The spirit of the east remember!"

   The floor began to creak...

   "The time of rebirth is at an end!"

   The floor began to bulge under the pile of bodies...

   "God of old disperse, Anu be praised!"

   The floor exploded into a cloud of wood and cement. The head of some kind of demon worm whipped through the air, consuming bodies and flesh.

  "God of light,

  burning bright,

  closed tonight,

  for night is might,

  and no tis plight!"

   The demon wailed, its body being drawn back into the floor. Its scream of dismay cut through her soul as a whirl wind began. The air caught fire as the storm grew. She gripped the basketball pole with all of her life. The air burned her lungs, the heat singeing her hair, making her eyes water. The god Khorne was unaffected.

   "Close the gate!!" She screamed. He repeated her chant, his voice overpowering the storms. The girl fell into unconsciousness.

   She awoke several hour or minutes or seconds later.

   The air was cool and silent.

   The ground was still.

   The bodies were gone.

   The sun was coming up.

   (The evil was over?)