by J D Dench
Out of the seven of them, only Leif, Olap, and Jonn had any weapons. Jam’aal’s spear was stuck between the Demon’s bones, Ulp’s crossbow had shattered, Silvia’s blade had finally snapped, and Gremlin had his blade shattered to pieces. Olap’s hammer was damaged from the Demon’s claw, but it was still a usable weapon. Leif’s incredible dagger was nearly unbreakable, and Jonn wore his dagger in the center of his chest still. One of the Dwarven brothers still had a dagger, but it was that of their father and was only to be used in case of an emergency.
“So, where to next?” Jam’aal asked, chewing on a couple of leaves he determined were safe to eat. “I assume we should get out of here as soon as possible?”
Olap ate the final rations of his bread and shot the man a dirty look when he wasn’t looking. “The castle,” he answered. “We need to know what is going on here before going back.”
“You want to go to the castle?” Jam’aal asked, eyebrows raised. “You’ve got some guts, but it’s a bad, bad idea. I heard a lot of commotion when I was under that rubble. If I had to guess, I’d say the castle is going to be full of those things.”
“I agree with Jam’aal,” Ulp chimed in. His brother nodded beside him. “If there’s even one more of those things, we’re dead.”
Olap growled with irritation and turned his attention to Silvia. “And you? How are you feeling?”
“I think we should look at the castle,” she said with a small smile. Slowly, it turned into a frown. “I just don’t think I’m up for it, though. And look at Leif. With our lack of weapons and severe injuries—”
“Well that does it, then,” Olap interrupted with a groan, climbing to his feet. “Majority of you want to turn back back.”
“It’s a suicide mission,” Leif muttered. He stared at the ground and coughed into his hand.
“What about you Jonn?”
Jonn downed the last of his flask and frowned. “I’m out of ale,” he reported, putting it in his pocket. “I ain’t going back without fresh ale. I say we go to the castle.”
“Are you crazy?!” Silvia shouted. “You vanish for the entire fight with the Demon to find booze, finish it, and now you want to go on a suicide run for more?”
Jonn nodded his head. Olap smiled and wrapped his arm around Jonn. “Don’t forget that if Jonn didn’t go looking for that booze, we wouldn’t have found Jam’aal, and that Demon may have finished the job it started.” Jonn nodded his head and beamed. Olap continued, “Nice to know someone agrees with me, despite his reasons. But it still looks like－”
“I’m going.” Leif interrupted Olap.
“Leif…” Silvia trailed off. She couldn’t find the words she wanted to say.
“What do you mean?” Olap asked, stepping toward Leif. “You just said it’s a suicide mission.”
Leif climbed to his feet, shaking his right leg and flinching at the pain but pushing through it. “I mean I’m going to the castle. With or without all of you.” He shot a look at Olap and turned away from him.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m just looking for a way to die in glory. But you don’t know the story I’ve been through. I need this. This is personal.”
Olap swallowed hard and stepped to Leif’s side. They were turned away from the others. “Are you sure about this, kid? If we go, they’re right. We’ll probably die.”
“Good thing I’m not afraid to die, then,” Leif said simply, flashing the Dwarf a quick smile. “After all, it is a suicide mission.”
“That makes three of us,” Jonn called to the others with a wide grin. “And we’re going with you or without you!”
Silvia swallowed hard. She could feel the fear biting away at the back of her mind. She forced it back and jumped to her feet. “If Leif’s going, so am I!”
Olap spun and faced her. “So suddenly the chicken is no chicken?”
She shrugged. “What’s the point of running if we don’t have a weapon to defend ourselves with?”
Ulp cursed, and turned to his brother. “We can’t be the only ones to run away, brother. Besides, the Elves got hurt because of us.”
Gremlin nodded his head. “You’re right, brother. We must go with them. It’s what dad would have wanted.”
Olap heard the Dwarves grumbling and faced them. “What are you two going on about over there?”
Ulp was the first to stand up. “We’re going!” he announced. His brother jumped to his feet and nodded, renewed by a new fire in his belly.
Finally, Olap turned to Jam’aal. “And what of you, ‘master healer’?”
He shrugged and smiled that grin Olap hated so much. “I guess I have no choice but to go with. I won’t get too far on my own.”
So they set off with what little supplies they had to the castle that could hold their demise. Olap led the way, side by side with Silvia. Behind him were the Dwarven brothers, with Jonn and Jam’aal behind them and Leif taking up the rear. The path they traveled was bare. There was no sign of life anywhere. That was normal for the destruction.
The part that made Olap uncomfortable was the lack of signs of death. There were no bodies anywhere in sight. Only destruction.
They approached the castle by nightfall and prepared camp a short distance away. All day long, Leif walked behind Jam’aal. Once they arrived at the castle, they took a short break. During that break, Leif walked up to Olap. “Have you seen a man without a shadow?”
Olap nodded his head. “Not before, but now I have.”
“What do you make of it?”
“Not sure,” Olap grumbled. “My old leader once said never trust a man with no shadow, because his shadow is always somewhere. But I never figured his riddle would be literal.”
Leif nodded and turned to walk away. Olap stopped him. “What do you mean this is personal, by the way?”
Leif froze in place. Olap could see his body tense up. “You don’t need to tell me. I was just wondering.”
“No,” Leif answered finally, “it’s alright. It’s hard to explain. Basically I had four other Elves that I wandered the lands with. Nobody would take us in since we left the Elven Kingdom. We wanted to learn new ways of life, but Malkina chased us out with swords, and the Dwarves turned a blind eye to us. I actually lived in LivenOak with them for a time. After hearing about the Prophecy, I returned to the Palace to serve my people, but the other four stayed behind.
“I saw their homes back there, but I couldn’t see them. I looked a little, but all I saw was destruction Olap.” Leif’s eyes fixed on the Dwarf’s. “I lived in LivenOak for seven years and left a year ago. I never met this man before, but I do know one of my friends lived where he claims he did. That’s why I don’t trust him.” “I’m sorry,” Olap said quietly. “I know what it’s like to lose your friends. I know all too well.”
Leif reached down and put a hand on Olap’s shoulder. “I know, Olap. I heard the stories.”
Olap put his hand over the Elf’s and smiled warmly at the man. “Keep an eye on him, Leif,” he said. He gestured toward Silvia. “And go check up on her for me. I’m taking a liking to her.” Olap was left alone with his thoughts for the moment. He used this time to make any kind of plan. With the handle of his hammer, he drew a large rectangle that would represent the courtyard. A circle represented where the door was, and an oval outside the castle showed where they were, marked with seven small x’s. How do I plan without knowing what we’re facing, though? Or how many?
“Making a plan I see,” Jam’aal commented from behind. He dropped to his knees by the diagram. “Haven’t gotten too far. Maybe I can help, since I know the layout of the castle better than the rest of you.”
Olap didn’t look in his direction. “What would you do, then?”
“For the record, I hate this plan,” Olap groaned. He climbed out of the Old-Gold river, shaking the water from his clothes. “I hate water.”
“Well, we could have just kicked in the front door and announced we were here,” Jam’aal snapped back, “but I act
ually intend to stay alive tonight.”
Silvia and Leif climbed out of the water the last. Leif helped her out before climbing up after her. “Whatever, it got us here,” Silvia sighed. “So what do we do now?”
“I can lead us to the kitchen. From there, on the balcony, you can see the entire courtyard.”
Jam’aal walked over to a heavy iron door and pulled it open. The creaking of the door was loud enough to echo and make everybody cringe, but Jam’aal didn’t seem to notice. Jonn rushed behind Jam’aal, eager to get to the kitchen where he could find booze. Olap climbed the steps after Jonn, Silvia behind him. Leif followed her, with the brothers taking up the rear. The steps were pitch black and led to a wooden door, which Jam’aal pushed aside to reveal the dimly-lit kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and extended his arms.
“See? Safe and sound, just as promised.”
Olap put a finger to his lips. Then, he rushed to the door to the kitchen, putting his ear to the wood.
“Calm down,” Jam’aal snapped at him. He pushed open the windows of the kitchen and revealed the courtyard. It was empty and dark, the throne standing high in the air with the family crest behind it. “It’s all clear, it would seem.”
“So that was the only Demon?” Ulp asked. He was the last one up the steps and shut the door behind him.
“That doesn’t make sense,” his brother replied to him. “Where would one Demon come from?”
“You said you heard a bunch of commotion,” Olap added. “Where are all the people if there are no Demons?”
“There’s more than one Demon in BlueCrest, that’s for sure,” Leif growled, his eyes drifting over to Jam’aal. The man didn’t notice the Elf’s eyes locked on him.
Silvia had stared out the window the entire time. She raised her arm, pointing toward the family logo. “There’s something hanging up there.”
Olap walked away from the door and looked to where she was pointing. He saw the body too, swinging in the wind. “What’s holding it up there? And are they alive?”
“No,” Leif answered instantly. His eyes were focused on the body, and Olap had no doubt he could see very detail. “The man is wearing royal clothing. The clothes of the logo. I’d say he’s royalty, if not the King himself. And he’s held up there by a sword through his chest.”
“You see too much,” Jam’aal said grimly. His tone was dark and deep.
The silence passed between them for a moment. Then Olap turned to Jam’aal. “What do you mean he sees ‘too much’?”
The door Olap had been listening through slammed open, the wood breaking under the strength. A Demon representing the Devil himself walked in, a smile on his face. “Well, what do we have here? The bird failed?”
“Not at all,” Jam’aal replied instantly. “In fact, if I hadn’t stepped in, these creatures would be dead. But I wanted to have some fun with them. You left the body up there?”
“Yes, Master Azzaan,” the Devil said, bowing before the human. “They were meant for your amusement in any case. I didn’t know the body would disturb your plans.”
“What the Hell is going on?” Silvia snapped, turning to face Jam’aal. “‘Azzaan’? ‘Amusement’? And you knew about the bird?”
Jam’aal raised his hand and punched Silvia in her face, knocking her backwards. She went silent and limp in an instant, blood rushing from her nose. Leif jumped in her path and caught her before she could hit the ground.
“You idiots were willing to believe anything I said. Even composed a song for me!” He turned to face the Dwarf brothers. “I’m not a human, you fools. I’m a Demon.”
“A Demon?” Ulp asked.
Gremlin added, “You can’t be. You look human!”
“Of course he’s a Demon,” Leif snarled.
“Not only am I a Demon, you twits,” Azzaan continued, “but I am the Demon! I am a God to the Demons. I am the most powerful Demon to ever exist!”
Jonn took another swig from his flask and fell against Jam’aal, wrapping his arm around him. “Jam’aal, thank you so much for the booze!”
Jam’aal’s smile faded from his face, slowly lowering to a scowl. His nostrils flared, and Olap saw his eyes begin to glow red. “It’s time to set an example,” the man said, pushing Jonn away from him. “I am your new master, Demon God Azzaan, and you will address me as such. And now, the biggest, most useless idiot on the planet will die.”
“Over my dead body,” Leif spat, reaching for his dagger. Before he could draw it, he was slammed against the wall by Galruman, Silvia pinned beside him in the same hand. The Dwarf brothers were pinned by his other enormous hand.
Olap was frozen in place by Azzaan’s eyes. “Watch,” Azzaan commanded Olap. Olap’s eyes moved to where Jonn stood, held in place by something he couldn’t see. He narrowed his eyes and realized he did see what was holding Jonn in place. Darkness. Standing behind Jonn was a perfect replica of Azzaan, only made of pure darkness. It had eyes and a mouth, but no other features. But its hair and height and body size were the exact same. Olap opened his mouth to say something.
The death was instant. The shadow spun Jonn’s head around twice, snapping his neck countless times, and it seemed to do it with absolutely no effort.
“What in the absolute Hell are you two?” Olap said slowly, his words feeling heavy in his mouth.
Galruman stood beside Azzaan, and they both flashed a wide grin. “We are the Demon Gods,” Galruman answered. And the last thing Olap saw was the shadow of Azzaan walk over to him and place its dark hand over his face.
Chapter Five
Matias wanted to run home right after fighting the gargoyles. He wanted to make sure Kayla was safe. He wanted to tell her what he had done. He wanted to just be able to tell her, the only person who could understand his story, the truth of what had happened. But he needed to report the death of his partner to his boss. And he knew they would never believe statues had come to life and killed Eli, so he had to make a new story.
H e constructed a story involving the call. Five teenage boys, aged between thirteen and fifteen, were at the cemetery digging into a grave when Eli and Matias had shown up. Three of them dropped their shovels and put their hands up, willing to give up right away. The other two reached for weapons they wore at their waist. One of them had a knife while the other had a gun. The one with the gun shot at Eli, forcing the officer to take cover. When Matias went to assist his partner, the one with the knife ran at him. Matias reached for his gun, but the knife-user was too fast for Matias to get off a clean shot. At the end of the fight, Eli was shot, and Matias was injured. The three who had no weapons ran away during the fight. The one with the knife was handcuffed, and the one with the gun tried to run away. Matias pursued the teenager with the gun, leaving the boy with the knife alone to run away, and the gunman escaped from Matias. So after everything, Matias had nothing to show to his boss but the death of his partner and his own minor injuries.
Explaining the body was more difficult. The gargoyle had torn Eli apart, so Matias had to bury the body and claim that when he returned to the scene of the crime the body had gone missing. There were no cameras or witnesses to prove Matias wrong, so the story would have to hold up as long as Matias believed what he said was true. Besides, he was used to lying to people by now. After all, they still believed he was Matthew, the man that lived with his sister.
Matias was lectured harshly, as was expected, by his superior. They should have waited for backup or been able to take a couple of kids, he was told. His boss took away his gun and badge and sent him on temporary leave of absence to get his head straight while they figured out what to do for the long term. The entire discussion was followed by the documents Matias had to fill out to confirm his story, followed by a medical checkup required to be sure Matias could medically be cleared to return home. Finally, he had to have a short mental session to make sure he was mentally fit to be out on the streets. The entire ordeal took at least five hours, and when Matias was finally in front of
where him and Kayla lived, the sun had already risen.
It was nine in the morning when he finally reached the door to his apartment. He reached in his pocket and found he didn’t have the keys. Dammit, he growled, but when he tried the handle he found the door was unlocked. Instantly, he was on his guard, his adrenaline pumping as he slowly turned the knob. He pressed his shoulder against the door and shoved it open, smashing the door against the wall and peering inside the apartment.
“Kayla?!” he shouted, his eyes darting around the room. Everything seemed to be in order. He slowly walked inside, wrapping his hand around the Hammer, shrunken down again and hidden in his back pocket.
A head popped up above the couch, Kayla facing toward him. Her face was pale, and she looked at Matias like he was a ghost. “What are you doing?” she spat. “Are you trying to kill me by heart attack? Because it’s working.”
“I’m sorry.” Matias let go of the Hammer and walked over to the couch. He put his hands on Kayla’s face and kissed her forehead two times. “I’m so sorry. You left the door unlocked. I was worried.”
“And that’s why you bash it open loud enough to wake everybody within five miles?”
He groaned and walked around the couch. Kayla sat up, and he fell down beside her. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his chest, nuzzling into him. “What happened?” she asked quietly, knowing this was the best way to comfort him. “You’re late.”
He rubbed his eyes and told her everything that had happened. Her eyes never left his, and she gasped when he told her about Eli’s death. He even told her about the lies he told his boss before he could come home. Halfway through his story, Kayla got up and poured him a cup of coffee which he sipped at gratefully. He had forgotten how tired he was.
Not many people knew how close he had been to Eli. He knew Eli’s wife and two daughters, Beth and Mary, and knew he would need to go tell them what happened before the police department did. The question he kept asking himself was did he want to tell the truth? Or should he stick to the lies he told his boss?
