Day of the Beast: The Power Bearer

By H.M. Clasher

Imagine the whole world believing you were born with unlimited power.

 

I know what you're thinking, life must be easy with all that power. Everyone wants to be powerful.  Everyone wants to be admired.  Everyone wants to be commanding.

 

For young Azazel, there was nothing intriguing about the fight.  He has spent most of his life running away from being known as the power bearer.  He is young, charming, and unflinchingly mischievous.

 

Before you jump to conclusions, it's really not his fault that people really like him…and want to kill him.  Those who fear the power within him can't afford to let him live.

 

When the dark lord of the underworld initiates his plans to destroy the humans and unleash a great monster,  Azazel's hometown of Jericho becomes the center of the battle between good and evil and the lines begin to blur. 

 

With the help of friends and a no-nonsense young woman born to fight, Azazel is forced to find a reason for life beyond himself.

 

Can Azazel rise to the occasion or will all be lost?

 

Scroll up and click the Buy button now!

 

Day of the Beast is a full length dark fantasy novel and book one of The Power Bearer series of books.

 

For fans of Liv Zander, M.D. Massey, Tao Wong, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Paul Sating Annette Marie Michael Taggart, Everly Frost, Jim Butcher, B.N. Miles, Barbara Hartzler

P.S. You can follow Azazel's wild journey in the follow up book Day of Atonement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quaesitor
• Release date: Aug 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215322772

Book preview

Chapter One

Iremember hearing Ra’s voice, screaming.  I think he was telling me not to do it as I ran across The Tower of Light, the tallest building in Jericho, the guards in their heavy gear, chasing after me.  We were banned from coming anywhere near that building.  Those of us, from the Order of the Fallen, have always had a rough going in this town.  That Ra and I were orphans made things even worse.  Both of my parents died in the last great war, according to the teacher.  Since then, it’s been a constant worry, always looking out for the next war, being told by the teacher that we had to be ready when we were needed.

Well, this was my eighteenth birthday, and I was tired of waiting for the next war to get some excitement in my life.  I always wanted to do something exciting.  I had been eyeing that building for months, trying to figure out how to get on top.  It wasn’t simple to just fly to it.  The humans had many different contraptions put in place to keep us from flying to the building.  Ra and I had to sneak into the place pretending to be one of the humans who worked in the place.  Alright, to be honest, my wings only showed up the week before.  The teacher says that I’m a late bloomer.  My life’s been like that, always a little behind everything.  The teacher believed that young Fallen ones who grow up with their parents develop their abilities a lot faster.  They also get their wings a little earlier.  Well, I guess I wasn’t the lucky kind.  Things were always a little difficult for me.

The minute I leaped into the air, I felt the clouds envelop my body.  It was beautiful up there.  The night sky was beautiful, the moon with its red tint was a sight to behold.  Then came the most exciting part, the descent.  I went down fast, gravity pulling me with full force.  I could faintly hear Ra screaming at me, but his words were jumbled, fighting through the wind to reach my ears.  Naturally, the guards stopped short of falling off the building.  They were humans after all.  If they jumped, they were going to fall to their deaths, and if I know anything about humans, it is that they do not want to die.  They’ve come up with so many damn ways to extend their lives that you run out of ways to count them.  There are just too many of them in Jericho.

I spread my arms out wide, feeling the wave of air pass by me, with a smile on my face.  This was the best birthday ever.  I hadn’t realized just how tall the building was until I kept falling.  Occasionally someone would open their window to see what was happening as my body and the wind made a whistling noise.  I used my vision skill that the teacher taught me to see past the wind and clouds to where Ra was at the top of the building.  He had been apprehended by the guards but was screaming something at me.  When my eyes fixed on his lips, I was finally able to tell what he was saying.

Open your wings!

Right, how could I have forgotten the point of the whole thing? Ra had gotten his wings early.  He was one of those brilliant orphan children.  He did everything well.  The only department Ra failed in, was courage.  He had great abilities, but he thought too much about everything.  He never dove into anything without calculating all the risks.  That’s why he was my best friend.  I took all the risks, and he figured out ways to get me out of trouble.  I had to beg him to come with me to the building in the center of Jericho so that I could jump off it.

Okay wings, open. 

By the time my body reacted to what my brain was thinking, it was too late.  I had been falling for a long time, and gravity proved to be a formidable opponent.  I instinctively wrapped myself up into a ball as much as possible.  I don’t even remember what it felt like when I hit the ground.  It was fast and hard.  I instantly passed out.

I woke up a few days later in the East Jericho General Hospital.  When I opened my eyes, all I saw were the blinking fluorescent lights on the ceiling.  Hospitals notoriously have bad lighting.  How is anyone supposed to properly recover in a setting like that?  I could barely move my body.  My face was bandaged up, and I assumed the rest of my body was also bandaged up.  There was no way to tell.  I couldn’t move.  I tested my vision, squinting my eyes to try and get a better focus.  I could see through the ceiling.  On the floor above me was an elderly human male, groaning and whining about how much his back hurt.  Check, eyes are still working.  I tried to turn my head to the side and felt a sharp pain in my neck.  I let out a groan. 

There you go, that old man and I have something in common.  Who would have thought?  Humans, they’re just like the rest of us after all.

I heard footsteps outside my door.  The sounds were faint as if they were a mile away from me.  This might be a good time to tell you that one of the things I failed at in school were the listening exercises.  The teacher was always harping on about how I needed to increase my listening ability.  I just didn’t want to hear his yapping about how I wasn't fulfilling my potential and how I was letting my dead parents down.  I mean what kid wants to hear that?  The one sensory skill I excelled at, much more than any other student at our school, was the vision skill.  Of all the pupils in the school, I was the only one who could see through walls.  I guess when you are truly eager to see into the girls’ changing room it serves as an inspiration to improve.

Your neck is not going to heal properly if you keep moving it around like that, someone said as the door opened.  I was frustrated that I couldn’t move better.  I couldn’t see who walked in.  It could have been an assassin sent out to murder me in my sleep.  I’d have no way to defend myself until it was too late.  I cursed my fate.  Then I saw a shadow as the person came to my side and slowly leaned over me, Boo! Ra said.  I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Ra! I said.  I felt a sudden rush of pain in my throat as if someone had taken a jagged knife and scraped the skin inside it.  A tear came out of my right eye.

Man, I don’t know how it is that you are alive.  I mean that was a big hit.  I mean didn’t you hear me tell you to open your wings? I mean I kept telling myself oh this daredevil is going to wait until the very last minute to open his wings and fly away.  But then you didn’t, you big sucker...oh don’t say anything.  That beautiful Mage out there said that you won’t be able to talk for at least another few days.  I figured this might be the best time to talk to you because you won’t be able to have any smart-ass comments.  What were you thinking man? I mean don’t get me wrong, man that was wild and exciting, he said as he walked from one side of the bed to the other, occasionally touching the bandages on my arm, that was the wildest thing I’ve ever done.  Oh, you are probably wondering why I’m all purple.  Well, you can thank those damn guards for it. They really put the beating on me.  I mean after you fell, they took me to one of the dungeons...did you know they had dungeons at the bottom of that place? Yeah, me neither.  And trust me I was not curious to find out.  But there I was, and they were beating me with this electrical cord that was shooting out electricity everywhere.  I had to use my inferno skill...yes, they’re all dead, and I really didn’t mean to kill them, but I was in so much pain and I kept asking myself what would my buddy Azazel do in this situation, and it came to me like you were transferring your thoughts to me so, boom, inferno.  Fire everywhere.  And they were dead,

He basically committed murder and he thought that that’s what I would have done? Laying there on the bed, unable to move, I was learning a lot about my good friend Ra.  I had never seen his inferno power in action.  All he’s ever shown me was that he could light a cigarette with little effort.  Now he was killing people by burning them to death? And I was his source of inspiration. 

Note to self, reevaluate your life, your choices, and maybe your friendships.  

I wanted to apologize for him getting beat up by the guards, but given what he just finished telling me about how that story ended, I didn’t think it made sense for me to try to make amends.  In fact, I was surprised that the city Gendarmes, the security forces, were not out looking for a short demon boy with noticeably red fiery hair.  Then when he leaned over me again and removed the hood of his shirt, I noticed that his hair was short and purple.  I let out a little laugh.  My stomach hurt. 

So he wanted to match his new skin color? 

Us demons of the Fallen Order had a lot of benefits to being from our race.  We can change our skin color from time to time.  Most humans imagine that demons are all red with ugly horns on their heads, but that wasn’t the case.  For the most part, we can appear human-like, with the added benefit that we can change our skin color.  I was born brown skinned, but I can change if the occasion calls for it.  The demons with the ugly horns didn't get them easily.  You have to do a decent amount of killing to reach that level of the order.  It was a bit like the angels with the halos over their heads.  They had to do an incredible amount of good in their lives in order to gain halos.  I didn’t envy those poor saps, always having to be on their best behavior.

Alright buddy listen, the teacher is outside talking to the Mages.  He’s going to come in here soon.  I can’t say I envy you right now, having to lay there and listen to him lecture you about how horrible you are, so I’m going to head out.  I have to go heal these wounds of mine.  Obviously nothing like yours but you know...I met a girl last night with healing abilities. Haha, isn’t that crazy? You end up in the hospital and all of a sudden my luck with the ladies changes...hmmm, maybe hanging out with you has been my bad luck this whole time.  Anyway, I’ll see you in a few days.  Take care and feel better, crazy guy, Ra said.  He bent over me and kissed my forehead, then walked out.  I sighed when he exited.  He thought having to listen to the teacher was a hard task for me? Having to listen to him was torture, especially since I couldn’t say a word.

The door opened again.  I smelled the scent of rosemary.  This particular hospital was known for its use of herbs to heal humans and demons.  The angels had their own hospital that no one else was allowed in.  They just used their own powers to heal.  I could tell two people were walking in.  One of them was my teacher.  He always smelled like freshly cooked rice.  I don’t know what it is with the man but he didn’t think a meal was complete without rice.  His favorite was jasmine rice.  I know this because everything he tried to teach us throughout the years always had a rice influence to it.

The old man, his face full, his body wide, leaned over me while he rubbed on his beard like he was massaging a woman’s breasts.  I couldn’t talk, much less move, so I fixed my eyes on him.  He turned and glanced at the Mage at the foot of the bed.  He always accused me of being a pervert, forgetting that I learned everything from him.  Including my perversities.  He smiled and pulled a chair, his wings lightly flapping upwards as he elevated himself and then sat on the chair.  The Mage chuckled as she looked at my chart.  I wondered if she was beautiful.  She must have been because the teacher did not hang around unless there were beautiful women present, human or otherwise.  He did not discriminate as long as they were beautiful and he was guaranteed to get a boner.  I coughed lightly.

You are very lucky you survived that fall, the Mage said.

She’s a fairy, The Teacher whispered.  Of course, she was.  He loved fairies.  Most humans imagined that fairies were all tiny little things they could collect in their pockets.  Fairies were very dangerous.  Some of them became Mages who worked to heal people.  Others were busy at work trying to usurp the humans who took over their forests.  I never trusted fairies, but the teacher had his fair share of affairs with fairy women.

I’ll let you two talk for a little.  I’ll be back to check on the patient, but please do not keep him up for too long.  He needs to rest.  The more sleep he gets the better he will feel, and hopefully we can get him out of the hospital soon, the Mage said.  She opened the door and left.

So, The Teacher said and cleared his throat. You turn 18 and suddenly you decide you want to kill yourself? Azazel, what is it with you? You are my most promising pupil.  Not the most disciplined, or skilled, he added.  Did he come all the way to the hospital to insult me? It was no secret that I wasn’t the best student.  I didn’t need to hear that from him again.  I read the last report he wrote about me.  Lucifer wasn’t going to show up at my door to recruit me for his squad any time soon.

I... I tried to talk.  My throat hurt like a fire breathing dragon was raging in there.  So I lay my head back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

Azazel, you know I love you like you were my own son.  But you have got to do better.  You are at the age where most of your powers are supposed to amplify.  Yet you can barely fly.  I mean your wings just showed up a week ago.  You are skilled, but you can be better.  Your vision is the only thing that you seem to have mastered.  Look, I’m not here trying to make you feel bad about yourself.  The day will come when you will have to put your skills to use.  You will have to defend yourself, your loved ones, or your kind.  Will we be able to count on you?  That is a serious question you must consider. he said.  He rubbed his chin again as he sat back in the chair.

All this talk about what a failure I have been.  All I wanted at that moment was a glass of water or ale.  Anything.  You get tired of hearing these stories about how great people think you could be.  The truth was that I didn’t care a great deal about living up to expectations.  I didn’t ask to live this life.  I didn’t ask to be born into this order.  He never understood why I didn’t want to embrace what it meant to be of the fallen ones.  We are supposed to be one of the best clans of demons.  There is nobility in our ranks.  Yet the likes of me and Ra had to grow up in an orphanage.  How great is our order when they couldn’t protect our parents?

I really should have worked more on that mind transference skill.  I would be able to tell him I need something to drink.  I tried it once when I was twelve, but that man’s brain is like a maze of nasty surprises.

I cleared my throat a little and turned my head slightly to the right to see if the Mage had left something on the side table next to the bed.  There was a pitcher on the table with a glass next to it.  I turned my head back to the old man who was practicing his flight by slightly raising himself off the chair.  He was self-centered in that manner.  He believed all demons of our order must constantly practice and get better. 

You can never be too good, Azazel. Practice until you can practice no more.  Then practice some more. 

He wasn’t wrong.  The day I was able to see through the walls of the girls’ dorm building was a celebratory one.  Although what I got for that was a three-month stint in a dungeon for breaking decency laws.  Look at me you old fart.  His eyes were closed.  I could have been screaming with my eyes and he wouldn’t have noticed.

Thankfully, the Mage returned to the room.  I painstakingly turned my head to the right to look at her.  Then I darted my eyes to the pitcher.  She nodded.  I couldn’t tell if she read my mind or if she was just a nice soul.  She walked over to the side table and poured water into the glass.  Then she leaned over me.  I tried my absolute best not to stare at her breasts.  I didn’t think a fairy would appreciate me undressing her in that manner.  Also, I didn’t want to get killed while I couldn’t defend myself.  She poured the water slowly into my mouth.  It was painful, like putting medicine on a fresh wound.  It was equally satisfying.

I’m going to have to ask you to leave soon.  He really needs his rest.  You can come back to see him in four days.  He should be up and running by then...well not running, but he should be in better shape by then. the Mage said.  The old man descended.  He nodded and the Mage walked back outside.

Alright, Azazel...I’ll be going now.  Don’t try to talk.  Get your rest.  I have a lot to deal with back on the campus.  I’m going to assign one of the senior students to train you, to get you back in top shape.  But Az, you really have to work hard.  I can sense something bubbling up soon.  And we are going to need you.  Sometimes, in this world we live in, we end up having to fight people who should be on our side...I guess what I’m trying to say is that we are going to go through some hard times and I need you to be ready.  You have a big part to play.  I have always believed that.  Now I need you to believe it too.  Anyway, I better get going before that beauty comes back in here to yell at me, he said.  He opened the window, climbed up onto the ledge, and winked at me before flying off.

I sighed.  I was getting bored with his lecture.  I knew that would happen.  Ra warned me about the old man coming to drag me with his lectures.  I worried about Ra.  Killing humans in Jericho was not the type of thing one could do without consequences.  Even if he had legitimate reasons for killing them, the humans ran the city.  They had done their best to consolidate power over the years.  For a demon, all it took was an accusation from a human to end up in a deep dungeon where you’d never be heard from again.  I needed to get stronger so that I could be around for when they’d show up looking for him.  It was a good thing that he dyed his hair purple, I thought as I wiggled in the bed.  My back was itchy, and I had no way to make it feel better. 

The Mage did not return to my room that night.  At sunset, everything got quiet.  My window was slightly open after the teacher left, and I could not get up to shut it.  So the wind flew in and out, making the room colder.  I could hear the sounds from outside, yelling and laughing.  Life was still going on out there, in full force, and I was stuck in bed, unable to be with my friends.  I didn’t regret jumping off the building.  It was fun.  It was the kind of thing you got to do once in your life just because you can.  I should have thought more about how I was going to land.  I expected my wings to open up easily, and for me to fly off without a problem.  I didn’t count on the tremendous pull of gravity or my wings failing to open.

Two days later, a Mage pushed me in a wheelchair to the