THE LAST GATEKEEPER

Dibala and the Wraiths

Dibala appeared from within the cloud of smoke in the red hall. Her ethereal steps came down loud against the floor. The hollow hall was empty except for the representative at the end of it. In a desk with both hands formally placed in front of it, a blinded, bald, pale skinned demon sat with his head hanging low. From a glance you might think that it’d be dead but when Dibala, dressed in her tall collared and dark red gown, came within fifteen feet of the representative its bald head popped upward and twisted toward Dibala.

            “Dibala, Witch Queen of the West.” It said with a particular awareness that made the entire hall that much more frightening.

            “I wish to speak with the Sentinel.” Dibala said and put one hand on the desk. Her taped over eyes shifted beneath their wrappings.

            “And the Sentinel wishes to speak with you.” Its long, overgrown teeth outstretched past his lipless mouth and grinned at Dibala. His head tilted too and Dibala was sickened by what little she could sense of him. 

            Dibala stepped past him and into the towering doorway.

            The red vanished as she left the hall and entered the thick ebony of the Sentinel’s quarters.

            “Where is the Hunter?” His voice dark and shady. 

            Dibala stopped in the darkness and then a door somewhere on the opposite side of the room opened. Only pink light came from the door and a silhouette of a man within it. 

            “He’s stronger than we thought.”

            “He’s a mortal from something we destroyed years ago. Human Will has proven to be strong and you have proven to be weak.”

            “I can do this. Give me another chance.”

            The responses before had been swift and now there was a pause. That pause extended into a silence that gave even Dibala fear. What if he decided she was no longer useful and then she would be demoted to a lesser demon and sent to the ranks of ghouls and golems to be ground to bits in the pits of hell.

            “Once more I will cast you into Crohan’s life. The Wraiths will go with you.”

            Dibala turned and began to leave the darkness towards the red door before being halted against her will.

            “If you fail, there will be no mercy.”

             Dibala left the room.

            “The Wraiths will meet you in the outskirts of the town Dibala. Have pleasant nights.” The Representative said as she left.

            The hall dispersed into branches of more halls filled with more and more demons as Dibala moved throughout them. Most knew of Dibala, her rank was high amongst the general demonic affiliation. Not many conversed with the Sentinel and even fewer got away with failing a task given by him.

            The gate lie in a cylinder shaped room in one of the hall rooms. Its edges luminance with a purple magic and the portal glows and doesn’t at the same time. They say you can’t look into a portal or… Well they have many ideas.

            Dibala stepped inside it and the shuttering feeling of being blown through the sky befell her and she was being swept through the abyss and to the town.

            Chloe had long blonde hair like her sister Azlyn. She worked inside the town’s tavern where she often spent nights dreaming of what life would be like outside the hell she’d never known past.

            She stepped outside, into the summer air and felt the winds breeze through her hair. The Night skies were lit with stars and she gazed up at them longingly. She was beautiful in the moon light.

            Dibala watched from above her in an ethereal state. This would be her vessel for when she makes her stand against the Swordsmen. Crohan her new opponent that had to fall, had to fall or else she’d fall. And he would fall.

            The Wraiths held above her watching the girl much as Dibala does. Dibala flickered behind Chloe sending an eerie chill up her spine and The Wraiths advanced. Ghostly beings that Chloe had only ever wondered about seized her in an instant and pulled her off the porch just as quickly. Dibala lifted the young girl’s chin and breathed her essence into a stunned face.

            The girl was frozen for moments and then she was resisting but the wraiths had already gone in and out and over and below her locking her joints in a state of paralysis.

            Chloe, you will be my vessel until you die

            She screamed inside locked lips making an effortlessly numbed sound.

            Chloe! Let me into your mind, into your fears

            And Chloe was falling through the abyss whilst Dibala came into her body. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head and now Dibala and Chloe no longer existed but instead a merging of both into one woman but only one agenda. That of the stronger soul, Dibala, would conquer.

            Dibala opened her eyes while Chloe tried to close them but soon Chloe no longer existed. She only faded into the back of Dibala’s mind consulting her occasionally with meaningless efforts.        

            She felt her forearms with each hand and her facial features with each finger and she grimaced with every tooth in her mouth. This was nice; this felt nice, she thought to herself and then looked at the tortured and tainted faces of the wraiths. The time was now. They had to get the Wraiths bodies.