The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 51

XXXXXII

URIEL

Day Seven. Six Days Remain.

Ruined Chapel, Asylum

Uriel's body erupted back to life as the scene slowly faded away. He ran his hands up and down his body quickly, making sure the vision had really ended. "What... what was that?" he asked quietly, his eyes still burning with the image of his father kneeling, a man broken on the floor. "Then Daken and Faust, they're my-"

"Welcome to the world's worst family reunion, Uriel," Daken said with a demented laugh, stepping out from the shadows. "And that? That was my childhood, pal. That's how this mess all started." His body was still shaking; he hadn't been awake much longer than Uriel. The pale light of the night sky lightly ran along the edge of his face, outlining his shattered smile. Streaks of red coursed along his arms and legs ferociously, the bright flashes of energy illuminating the darkness and then disappearing as quickly as they had come.

Slowly getting to his feet, Uriel stared at the scarlet sparks, then up into Daken's eyes. "Everything I saw was real?" he asked, studying Daken's wounded expression. "You and dad and Faust, it was all-"

"Down to the last detail," Daken replied, glancing over at the ruins of the forsaken room. "I knew your abilities were powerful, but I sure as hell wasn't expecting that. To relive it like that, to feel what they felt, that's..." His veins pulsed red. "That's dangerous."

Uriel took a step toward Daken. "So, the woman that Faust is talking about, the person he's doing all this for-"

"-Is the woman I killed," Daken roared, cutting Uriel off. "Lila. Eli's wife. My stepmother. Faust's mother." The bolts of energy tracing his body became a deep crimson, growing thicker and faster with each passing moment. Daken slammed his fists against the ground, consumed by anger. "So, yeah, this?" he snarled venomously, looking back at Uriel with blazing red eyes. "This is all my damn fault."

"Daken, come on," Uriel began gently, walking over to him. "You can't seriously blame yourself for this." He placed a hand on Daken's back cautiously. "You were a kid. You were just trying to keep Eli safe."

The young man whirled around, ripping Uriel's arm from his back and slamming him up against the wall. "I'm not interested in your worthless therapy. Do you think I need to hear what Eli's favorite son has to tell me?" he spat, his tear-stained eyes burning into Uriel's. "Just looking at you pisses me off." A red spark shot across his face as it knotted with hate. "And here I almost forgot how much I can't stand you."

Uriel wrapped his hands around the arm pinning him, but it wouldn't budge an inch. The more he struggled, the brighter Daken's veins would glow and the greater the pressure against his chest would grow. "Why?" Uriel choked out. "Why are you so angry with me? What did I ever do to you? Daken, if this is true, then I'm your-"

Daken struck Uriel across the face with the back of his hand, his mind blinded by the throbbing rage of the Bloodmoon now overpowering him. "Don't you dare!" he ordered, lifting Uriel up by his collar. "Don't you ever call yourself my brother. You and I don't share a single drop of my damned blood; we are nothing alike." Daken threw Uriel into one of the chapel's support pillars with all his savage might, shattering it. "Do you know what you were?" he asked, lifting Uriel up once again. "You were my replacement."

"That's insane!" Uriel shouted, swinging uselessly at Daken's face. "Listen to yourself, Daken! You aren't making any sense! This isn't who you are. That energy around you, that must be Bloodmoon. It's drawing on your anger, your pain, it's-"