I glanced up in time to avoid a set of purple talons that had been aimed for my head. As I’d suspected, the flying demons had woken up and taken to the skies. If I’d stayed in the air, a single target for all of them and the ranged attackers below, I probably wouldn’t have lasted long. On top of that, I wasn’t sure if any cultists were left, but if so, they would probably be a problem.
That question answered itself a moment later as someone in a black robe stepped around a corner, leveling a hand and peppering a group of people with a spray of pebble-sized green lights. The magic burned the townspeople like acid, disorienting them, and some were trampled by their friends and family.
The cultist hadn’t noticed me, and I didn’t give her any warning that I was there. Instead I leapt up, springing off the side of a building, and swung Eneus like a club. Increasing my weight right before the spear hit the cultist’s neck had probably been overkill, but I wasn’t taking any chances. If Eneus had been a normal weapon, the blow would have broken its handle.
I left the twisted body of the dead woman behind, springing forward to kill more demons and any other robed enemies I could find. I’d just planted my spear in a spindly, otherwise bovine-like demon when I noticed a new cultist round a corner ahead of me. He saw me at the same time I saw him. Before I could react, he turned, running away back the way he’d come.
With a growl, I yanked my weapon from the dead thing at my feet and glared at the alley the cultist had disappeared down, wondering if I should follow. I decided not to, reasoning it could be a trap—I’d learned my lesson. The encounter reminded me of the hellgate, though. Killing demons right now was like bailing water out of a sinking ship. The leak needed to be plugged or the situation would just keep getting worse.
I wish I knew what to do. Approaching the hellgate as close as I had before had been dangerous, and I could only imagine that more demons were coming out of it now. Even if I can get close to the thing, what in the rotting hells do I do then? I wondered. I touched the pouch at my waist, feeling the rock, but I truly didn’t know what to do with it. Should I throw it? What if it doesn’t work?
At least I could hear other sounds of fighting now. At least someone was fighting back somewhere, maybe some of the Bittertown Guard.
After I slaughtered a dog-like true-demon with tongues growing out of its back, I sprung up to a rooftop. The vantage wasn’t great here, so after blowing off a bat-thing’s wing with an air drill, I flew to another rooftop to get a view of the ruined warehouse. As I’d suspected, the portal was even more protected now, surrounded by true-demons. A couple cultists stalked around, using magic or orb-Bonded power to keep the monsters in line, throwing scraps of people into snapping jaws like treats.
Thunder crashed overhead, and a jagged spear of crimson lightning stabbed through the sky to strike a nearby building. Almost like it had been a signal, a couple dozen true-demons turned toward me and began moving at once. A cultist screamed behind them, cracking a whip. Above me, flying demons wheeled and dove.
I sank deeper into floating time, letting my thoughts race in the background while most of my attention stayed focused on my enemies. Now that I’d perfected floating time, anger and aggression could bleed through when it was appropriate. “Hazard!” I yelled, and snarled as the unnatural beasts closed with me.
Staying on the roof would be a bad idea; I was too exposed. I hopped down, and Eneus flashed out, skewering two of the small, fast ones before the rest could even react. Then I gracefully backflipped, adjusting my weight with Flight to keep balanced, moving as fast as possible. My hand came up, and air drills blew apart a couple flying demons, their guts raining on the monsters below.
Dodging, slashing, stabbing, I narrowly avoided every bite, claw, or bolt of magic thrown my way, pushing to extend my senses. The magical attacks were the most frustrating. All the remaining cultists mostly hid, taking shots of opportunity when they weren’t directing the demons. If I hadn’t taken out that large group of cultists before this battle had started, I might already be dead.
My situation still grew grimmer by the minute. The demons were growing in numbers, to the point they were beginning to fill the streets near the ruined warehouse. Screams of townspeople as they ran, or death cries as they were torn apart, echoed through the streets.
I rose upward, flying a short distance while raining air drills down on the demons below. The effort allowed a group of people to escape, but a handful of new demons ran out of a side alley, throwing things at me. One launched spikes and one even spat smoking saliva. I dodged everything, springing upward, but barely avoided a new attack by a diving winged demon. It almost grabbed me from above, the humanoid hands on the ends of each talon reaching for me. As I juked downward with Flight, I spun in midair, throwing Eneus. The spear skewered my attacker and I pulled it back by the sash. I was still alive, but underneath my floating time, despair began to grow, making my shoulders tense.
“There are too many,” I said out loud, finally voicing reality. If the hellspawn kept pouring out of the hellgate, all this effort would be useless. To save Bittertown and protect Berber, I needed to shut down the portal. I just wish I knew how.
Did Dolos say I needed to actually go through the portal? I couldn’t remember! Now I’d been all over the area, and I’d seen the destroyed warehouse, but I hadn’t noticed any altars like I had at the cultists’ underground lair. Shutting down the helldoor from this side probably wasn’t possible.
Now I could see some pockets of Bittertown residents fighting back, but their efforts weren’t very effective. The true-demons were strong, created for violence while most of the people who fought didn’t even have real weapons. Their bravery humbled me.
The sky kept growing darker, but the flashes of red lightning and the fires springing up all over Bittertown provided plenty of hellish light to see by. The damn flying demons were acting like a net, penning me in the entire time. If a single one got ahold of me, I’d be finished.
My constant fighting brought me closer to the warehouse where all the demons were coming from, and before I knew it, I was completely surrounded. With a resigned grin, I finally activated my enchanted armor. I’d been saving it for when it was really needed, and while this fight would probably last a lot longer, the armor wouldn’t do me much good later if I died now.
Even with the armor, things looked grim for me. Flying true-demons had concentrated above, slowly dropping lower. Creepy humanoid demons crawled on the rooftops to both sides of the street, and the streets themselves were full of monsters, boxing me in. I was reminded of being trapped on Tanner Street a few days ago by the Jackals.
Rotting great.
I was about to use Pewpew, maybe punch a hole through the flying demons overhead to escape. I wasn’t sure if it would even work, and using the ring at this point would be dangerous. As the demons slowly drew closer, I hesitated, then cocked my head, listening. I heard rapidly approaching, heavy footfalls. Suddenly, the formation of demons in front of me was mowed down flat by a giant, charging lizard.
Jadanak had arrived, and he looked furious. He roared, an awesome sound. All the windows on the street rattled. The sound touched something primal in me, filling me with terror, freezing me in place for a second. Then the enormous drake unleashed the violence that his bellow had just promised.
The weapon attached to the tip of his tail gave it devastating power as he skillfully wove it in complex patterns. Each strike destroyed every demon he hit. When he pounced forward, he used his claws and the full force of his weight to pulp the enemies he targeted. His gigantic, snapping jaws removed limbs and even chomped some of the demons in half.
The nightmarish creatures resisted, trying to swarm over him, attacking with their own claws, but Jadanak’s natural armor shrugged most of it off.
Behind him, Trevor leapt high, his magic-infused muscles giving him superhuman power. His arm moved in a steady, practiced rhythm, unleashing arrow after arrow from his oversized bow.
&nb
sp; I ran toward them, float-jumping up and over to guard their backs. “I see you have been having fun without us!” shouted Trevor.
“This is not my idea of fun!”
The man grinned without humor, his eyes strained. “So what is the plan?”
Behind him, Jadanak roared again. He bellowed, “I hate these things! Why am I even doing this? I am never going to get this taste out of my mouth!”
I shouted in Trevor’s ear, “There is a portal, a helldoor where the warehouse used to be.” With a quick word and a press into the ground, I shortened Eneus, turning my spear into a short sword. I paused to concentrated on defending myself as I blew off demon heads with air drills. Then I got close to Trevor again and explained, “I think I need to get to it, the portal, but they were protecting it last time, and there are even more of them now!”
Jadanak heard. He thundered, “Is it ahead of us, to the right?”
“Yes!”
“Then follow me. Keep them off my back!” The huge drake surged forward and I followed.
My muscles ached, I only had a few more shots with Pewpew before it would start dangerously eating away at my endurance, and I was running out of magic power as well. Firing off air drills was taking more energy and more concentration every time I used them now. But despite my fatigue, I felt fortunate I could still fight. The me three years ago would not have survived long in a battle like this.
Jadanak tromped through a ruined building that was still partially burning, and I saw the warehouse behind it. “There it is!” I shouted. The entire place was crawling with demons, and over their heads I could see the hellgate. It had definitely grown larger, and even as we watched, the biggest true-demon I’d seen yet emerged through it, its arms ropy masses of muscle, its claws dark as night.
The new creature took one look at us with its unblinking trio of eyes before screaming and stomping over its fellows. Its attention was fixed on Jadanak.
With a roar, Jadanak surged forward to meet the beast and the two locked in a titanic struggle. They crashed together, clawing and biting, rolling into a brick building and flattening it. Jadanak held the hairy demon in uncompromising jaws, cracking his tail around to pummel his enemy with his weapon.
My blood surged and I tensed to leap forward, to help the drake, but Trevor grabbed my shoulder. “Nora, the gate!” he screamed.
I snapped my head around and I could instantly understand what he meant. The new demon’s rampage had killed at least ten smaller ones, and a number of others were dazed. There was a visible gap in the defenses around the hellgate now. On top of that, most of the remaining demons and cultists were focused on Jadanak’s fight. A few Bittertown residents had had bows somewhere too; a handful of arrows rose from the streets below. Most missed, but even as I watched, a flying demon screamed as it fell.
We had an opening.
“You need to get to that thing right?” Trevor yelled over the noise around us. His handsome, dusky face was covered in blood, sweat, and dust. I hadn’t thought much of him when we’d first met, figuring he was probably a fop, not much more than a stud that the Serpents passed around. Now things were different, though. I felt deep respect for Trevor as a comrade in arms.
“Yes!” The best plan I had was to jump through the hellgate, fly up to avoid being eaten, and fly back.
“Then follow me!” Without any hesitation, he turned and began sprinting for the hellgate. The crimson portal had begun bending, like another huge demon might come through any second. With an oath, I followed.
Trevor moved faster than was normally possible, obviously using magic. He didn’t have many arrows yet, but every one he shot counted. I was impressed that he could hit anything while he ran, much less heads and eyes. Again, I had misjudged this man. The sort of skill he demonstrated was not possible through only magic or an orb. No, Trevor Young must have practiced for thousands of hours with his bow.
I fired air drills around him, taking out any of the demons that got too close. Most of the things were still not paying attention, but at least a few had noticed us. I prayed that the cultists would stay oblivious. No burst of flame or other magic had appeared yet as we dashed toward the gate, a fact I was grateful for.
When Trevor ran out of arrows, he dropped his bow and drew two long daggers. I tried to move faster, even using a bit of Flight, but I couldn’t get in front of him. He seemed completely focused on making a path for me. Smaller demons sprang for him, and he fluidly danced forward, severing hamstrings and making deep enough cuts to impede them. He looked back, and I caught his grin. His eyes, though, they were deep, serious. I felt a sense of dread. “No, no don’t do it,” I whispered.
We managed to get closer before the rest of the demons finally realized we were there, and a large group scuttled from one side to stop us—a solid wall of them. Trevor turned again and yelled, “Go! Save the city! I got this!” He ran directly into them.
He fought hard, but despite being a powerful mage, he was just one man. The brave archer screamed in defiance as he fought the demons surrounding him, selling his life dearly. Angry tears formed in my eyes as I flew-ran past him toward the hellgate. I refused to disrespect Trevor’s sacrifice by hesitating.
I vowed to remember this brave man I’d hardly known, who I’d misjudged so badly. The best I could do now was to honor his wishes, and to do my part. In the back of my mind, I hoped Dolos hadn’t just dropped a normal rock.
Terror took hold of me as the portal filled my vision, blowing floating time apart. This close, there was no denying the fear I felt through every fiber of my body. I gritted my teeth before giving one last shout, “Hazard,” then dove forward into the crimson light.
Red became my world, and time stretched into an eternity of nightmares. Disturbing sounds and images crashed again me, grabbing at my soul with clammy hands while the crimson light speared through my eyes and into my brain.
A giant centipede with the head of a baby forced itself into a dying man’s mouth, eating him from the inside.
Chanting people sipping wine while throwing infants into a well.
My fingers were bitten off one by one by whispering creatures in the dark.
I felt the blood in my veins replaced with ants, crawling around my body, approaching my brain.
Giant cockroaches pulled screaming people out of rubble before eating them alive.
Monsters made of nothing but hands and feet pulled people apart before adding parts to themselves.
I was surrounded by chanting doctors as I gave birth to a demon baby. It clawed its way out of my womb, turning to look me in the eye before giggling and gnawing at my flesh.
A giant eyeball appeared in the sky, forcing its thoughts into my brain, making me relive every moment of shame in my life. It whispered “unworthy” over and over again as I cowered.
“No!” I mentally screamed, my voice crashing against the images that assaulted me. Then I fought for my sanity, holding on to who I was as strongly as I could. I’d survived poverty on the streets, monsters, dungeons, bounty hunters, a breakup, a family that didn’t love me, and true-demons. Visions were not going to stop me.
The next thing I knew, I was through the portal and I reflexively flew upward even as I vomited, turning on as much speed as I could. I could sense things reaching for me, but I was too fast for anything to grab hold.
When my vision finally cleared, I saw the huge sea of demons below, including creatures in the distance that made Jadanak’s opponent look small. Mountains in the horizon were silhouettes against the flashing red light in the endless sky. I could somehow feel the helldoor behind me, an angry, buzzing presence. On this side, it felt even worse than it had in Bittertown.
This was a very, very bad place.
Something flashed past me as I took everything in. Maybe someone else had come through the gate? I still felt a bit fuzzy in the head, and before my mind had completely returned to normal, I felt the energy from the gate behind me begin to fade. With a growing sense of
horror, I turned to see the crimson portal blink a couple times before vanishing.
“Shit,” I sighed.
Revelation
Without the protection of floating time, overwhelming despair threatened to smother me. To help overcome this and keep myself alive, I focused on creating more distance from where the gate had been. Angry tears stood in my eyes, doing their damndest to jump free and do a dance of shame across my cheeks.
Regaining my calm was going to be difficult, but I needed every advantage I could get if I was going to survive—if I could survive. That train of thought only led to dark places, so I abandoned it.
Behind me, I could hear the mass of demons on the ground bellowing in confusion. I couldn’t count on the things staying clueless for long, though. Some cultists or intelligent demons probably saw me leave the portal and might figure out what had happened. How true-demons thought or how this demon world functioned hadn’t been part of my education as a child, but I could imagine that the only thing protecting me right now was confusion among the monsters below. The horde didn’t seem very well organized right now, thank the Creator.
“Damn,” I hissed.
I suddenly heard a voice right next to me. “What, the gate? Did you really not expect that to happen?” The voice giggled. “You should see your face right now.”
Even while flying, the voice had been right by my ear the entire time it spoke. I almost leapt out of my own skin, crying out, and my efforts to regain floating time shattered. After a surge of power to turn on Surround Vision, I turned to see Enheduanna’s face a few inches away.
“Hello,” she said. She was picking her ear.
In the distance behind her, a flying demon moved toward us. I slowed my movement, hovering in the air, then looked between Enheduanna and the approaching creature several times.
“Are you going to get that?” she asked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “The wildlife here is fairly hostile, and this lightning would be dangerous for you since you are still rather weak. I am not here to fight your battles for you, and it would be a shame if we go through all this trouble to keep you alive, just for you to wind up dead on Brecken.”
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