Executioners of Justice, Fire and Nightmares: Chapter 1 – A Night of Fire

Chapter 1 – A Night of Fire

My wife, Darcy, informed me about a person of interest that my sidekick, Kane Mundr, and I should pursue. She has her contacts keeping an eye on him, and before we can go out, a massive fire erupts in Meridian. The entire city is engulfed in flames, a result of our target’s power. Quickly taking Kane with me, we merge with the light and dark and race toward the address Darcy provided. Strangely enough, the flames don’t burn everything or everyone. When we arrive at the location, Kane and I see people confused by the fire surrounding them that isn’t harming them, while the same fire demolishes buildings, leaves many Catholic churches intact, and turns others to ash. Children and infants run around as if this is some fancy show, their parents grabbing them and racing to safety while trying to extinguish the harmless flames.

While racing through the small apartment, we find our man, Raziel Emundatio, kneeling by his bedside, praying a rosary. The studio apartment is tidy and filled with dozens of crosses and images of the Blessed Mother, a simple bed, a table with chairs, a computer on a desk, a bookshelf, and a fridge. Raziel has blond hair and wears an orange and yellow fiery cape, crimson light leather armor that has a crimson and yellow hood attached to it. As he looks up at us, he reveals his gold, orange, and crimson eyes, with a blank expression as if our appearance here doesn’t concern him.

Raziel crosses himself to finish his prayers and then says, “L’Obscurité. I’m glad you came here to visit me. You may not remember, but I was inspired by your acts of virtuous vigilantism to be as you are, however, I took things too far, and you rightfully punished me.”

“You still are taking things too far, buddy,” Kane says with his ebony pistol and white revolver trained on Raziel.

“These new powers that I got after being touched by L’Obscurité’s dark powers of justice are not completely under my control. They’re mostly a result of me allowing myself to be a conduit of God’s will, something that I’m sure you’re familiar with.”

“So, you allowed your powers to run wild to get my attention and help?”

“Yes, and I want to be your apprentice just as Kane is. After I heard you got a sidekick, I felt the calling to be another of your successors.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Kane?”

Kane, who stares intently with his grey, light blue and black, and red eyes, lowers his pistol, but keeps his revolver up.

“For some reason, I see that this man deserves mercy.”

“I see in his memories and soul that he’s a good man, despite what is happening outside.”

“I’m sorry for what is happening, but with your help, I’m sure we can stop it. Did your guardian angel give you your dark powers?”

“No, I got them directly from God,” I say.

“How do you control yours then?”

“I act as a conduit like you do, but I can lessen the effect it has on people by praying for them.”

“Mine functions much the same, but as you can see, my prayers haven’t been having much of an effect. In fact, I think my prayers have further irritated the flames.”

“How do they work? They seem to spare the innocent and burn the guilty.”

“That’s exactly how they work, and they also burn whatever objects God wants destroyed. Additionally, they show me glimpses of the future.”

“Really? How’s our fortune looking?” Kane asks.

“I see more fires like this raging in it because of the conflicts you’ll find yourselves in. Your lives as heroes have only just begun.”

“Let’s take things one step at a time. First, let’s put out these flames, and then we’ll worry about the future.”

“Does that mean you’ll accept me as your apprentice?”

“I want to see you out in the field first before I decide anything.”

“As you wish.”

Raziel dons a mask that’s half yellow, orange, and red, featuring three eyes in the same colors. He also unsheathes a small, handheld crimson and black scythe from beneath his cape, which ignites with fire. We exit Raziel’s apartment and step back into the burning city streets.

“Raziel,” I say, “Can you speak to your angel?”

“I can.”

“Can you ask him how to extinguish these flames?”

Raziel whispers, while looking up at something over his right shoulder that we can’t see, and yet, I feel a presence there that my powers aren’t allowing me to look into.

“He wants us to punish the guilty, let the flames burn all night long, and then, and only then, will the flames die down by morning.”

“The mayor, police, and hero associations aren’t going to like this.”

“So? This is the will of God that this is happening. True justice has no care for man’s laws,” Raziel says.

“I’m on this guy’s side. It’s not like we aren’t doing anything to stop the flames,” Kane says.

“Looks like I’ll have a massive headache to deal with in the morning. Okay, Raziel. Does your angel know of any particular targets we should be going after?”

“Yes. Follow me.”

Raziel sprouts wings of flame from his back, and he flies in a direction that Kane and I follow. He brings us to a place where I see men who deserve punishment, and Kane sees that they’re marked for death. These people are taking advantage of the chaos by looting stores and taking everything valuable to them. I let Raziel fight them to see his fighting ability. With his scythe, he cuts down sinners and burns them with the fire that sprays from it and his free hand. Curiously, some of the people are burned and the flames extinguish before they die or serious damage is done to them, and the scythe sometimes doesn’t cut through a person at all, while it cuts through others like a knife through butter.

Questioning him on this, Raziel says, “My scythe is much like my flames, only killing when God allows it. The flames are penitential and burn sin more than flesh.”

“They’re much like my powers, but yours have only one form of dealing punishment, whereas mine varies depending on its victim,” I say.

Feeling my phone ring, I answer it and hear the Chief of Police, Raymond Ellory, yelling at me as soon as I answer it. He says, “I’ve been calling you for over an hour now! I’ve asked Darcy where you’ve been, and she said that you were going after the guy who caused this firestorm in the city. You haven’t been answering her calls either, so I trust that you’re still chasing after him?”

“My guardian angel has been blocking people’s calls to you,” Raziel comments.

“He’s right here with me, and yes, I’m trying to solve the problem. His fires won’t stop punishing the city until tomorrow morning. I’m-”

“Tomorrow morning?! Kid. I can be convinced to look the other way for you because your powers selectively and discreetly punish people, but the city is burning!”

“I’m trying to help Raziel by going after the targets his guardian angel wants us to go after. With them gone, the flames should subside sooner.”

“He has a devil talking to him, not an angel. Raziel Emundatio is an extremist zealot who burned people alive because he thought they deserved it. Can’t you see that with your powers?”

“I can see his past, but I can also see that he’s put his past behind him. He’s a good man.”

“A good man burns an entire city?!”

“The flames are selective, and like my powers. They automatically punish whoever deserves it once activated.”

“Can’t you get them to stop?!”

Memories of my parents dying because of my powers fill my mind as I remember how I’m more of a conduit for God’s will than anything. I unintentionally touch the bullet hole in the center of my head, which is a scar from that day.

“No, but-”

“Look, if you don’t kill him or force him to stop, then I’ll have to get the police or hero and vigilante associations to do it for you. You may not be able to die, but he can.”

With nothing to say to that, I hang up the phone. I try to call Darcy, but the call doesn’t go through.

“You can’t call your wife right now. My angel wants you to focus on me, at the moment,” Raziel says.

I explain what Raymond was talking about and say, “Isn’t there a faster way to extinguish these flames?”

“Besides, with the blood of the guilty? There isn’t, at least that’s what my angel says. It doesn’t even seem that prayers for mercy will help either this time,” Raziel says.

“Then let me try to do things my way. Lead me to where your angel wants us to go next.”

After following Raziel to the next guilty party, we find many people who are just trying to survive. Sure, I can find fault in their souls as well as their less-than-legal deeds, but whose soul is immaculate? I let my powers take their judgment upon them and watch the horrifying result. The concrete below them breaks and forms into tendrils that crush and twist until breaking, holding them over the fire so they burn alive.

“Impressive. Your dark powers are truly astonishing,” Raziel comments.

“Did that satiate the fires at all?” I ask.

“According to my angel, it did a bit, but there is much more to be done to make a noticeable impact.”

Getting another call, I answer it only to hear Raymond yelling at me again. “Kid! I’ve been looking into the people who have been dying, and even though many of them are shady people or have criminal records, many are innocent with a smudge on them.  I’ve even heard reports of teenagers dying! You have to stop this now!”

“No one is completely innocent,” Raziel says.

I look again into Raziel’s memories and soul and see nothing wrong. Am I missing something? Raziel is right, but this chaos could set a dangerous example. Even if the flames die down by morning, we’ve shown that we’ll kill anyone we want, whether or not they’ve broken a law—execution without jury or proof of guilt, and yet, I can’t-

“Kid!”

“I can’t bring myself to kill him! It won’t do anything, and my powers aren’t doing anything to him!”

“You have a pistol that you always carry around. Use that instead!”

“I only use it when I’m holding back, and my powers aren’t doing a thing to him.”

“Look. He’s a conduit like you are. Kill him, and it should stop the fires, right?”

“It won’t,” Raziel says.

“He says it won’t, and I don’t want to spill innocent blood.”

“Innocent people are already dying, and the more that do, the more blood you have on your hands. Who are you going to trust? We’ve been working together for years, and you’re a good kid, a great man, and a dedicated father. I don’t want to have to fight you or your new friends.”

I struggle to make my powers do something, even decide for me if it could ever do that, and yet, I only feel empowered enough to speak and make one decision.

“He’s innocent, Raymond. Raziel is not doing anything wrong, you have to trust me on this, despite what it looks like!”

“I trusted you on a lot, but this is where I draw the line for good this time, and there’s no moving me, no matter what you or the mayor says. Don’t get in my way, because I’ll be hunting that bastard you’re with.”

Raymond hangs up the phone, and I tell Kane and Raziel what was said.

“It’s always been us against the law. I may not see the good in what is happening, but my eyes tell me not to kill this guy, and the people dying are marked for death,” Kane says. “If you want my opinion, we take our chances and trust him.”

“Thank you,” Raziel says before looking at me, waiting for my judgment.

“There’s no going back now. It’s us against the world,” I say.

“That’s just the normal life of a virtuous man. The world is always against us because it doesn’t understand us and hates us for our dedication to God. Thank you for trusting me, L’Obscurité. I promise you that we’ll have these fires out by morning. Now, come. Let me guide you to where my angel wants us to go.”

Following Raziel, we aid him in punishing the guilty. Meanwhile, I pray that I made the right decision and that I don’t see Raymond or any of the other good defenders of this city, so I won’t have to fight against him, and if we do, I hope no one dies and we can come to understand and live with one another. For now, the flames continue to rage on and must be satiated with justice and the blood of the guilty.