Legion

by Catrina Burgess

  For a moment, it appeared that the bear might have turned the tide of the battle. The demons did not seem to understand the concept of fighting together, and the pack's unity made it possible to gang up on their stronger foes. The number of up-and-fighting demons seemed to decrease, and the flow from the gate paused. I began to hope that we might live after all.

  And then a roar echoed through the gate. A rush of demons larger than those had come before poured out and hit the defenders like a rogue wave. The defenders were broken apart, isolated against the demon’s renewed ferocity, and once again they began to fall.

  The huge bear tore apart a skeletal demon that stood over ten feet tall, but the demon left a long black wound across the bear’s shoulder. The bear spirit moved on to another target, but it moved more slowly, taking longer to return to solidity, and I was sure that the next demon would be its last fight. A smaller shadowy bear moved to help, and the fight continued, but there were just too many of them, and it was only a matter of time before the pack was pulled down.

  And then Jamie started to sing. I turned to look for her, and for a moment I didn’t recognize the little girl. She stood in a circle of light that pulsed and grew with the beauty of the song. Her voice dimmed the sounds of horror around us, her voice larger than her little body should have been able to produce. All around me, the spirit pack began to glow and solidify. The bear’s shoulder healed in seconds, and it tore apart another demon with renewed energy. I looked back at Jamie and noticed something that I’d missed the first time. The bright glow that emanated from her cast a long shadow behind her on the gray rock of the battlement. The shadow moved independently, hovering behind her and four times her size. The shadow seemed to have horns, and as I watched, those horns turned in my direction. I shuddered, turning away before I could think too much about what that might mean.

  A flash of steel caught my eye and Dean slowed enough for me to see him. He fought with a number of demons that moved almost as fast as he did. The long sword sliced one small demon in half, but another slashed a cut across his cheek. It was already healing when he moved again, flashing out of my field of vision.

  A huge demon came through the Hellgate then, momentarily stopping the flow with the bulk of its passage. It moved on, a mass of writhing tentacles, holding a vaguely man-shaped shadowy form aloft. It seemed somehow familiar, but before I could figure out why, it flowed over the wall of the castle and down the side, disappearing from my sight.

  And then I saw him. Luke was being pushed back toward the edge of the roof by a demon. The demon was covered in glittering green scales with a long pointed tail stretching out behind it. Its mouth was elongated, more like an alligator than anything else. It towered over him, maybe not one of the Archdemons, but still a force of powerful evil. Flashes of red hellfire tore through the air at the creature, pushing it back with ferocity but not causing it any visible harm. The damned spirits at his beck and call floated in the air around the demon, gnashing and tearing at it. They seemed to be having more of an effect, but the gashes they made healed as quickly as they appeared. Half a dozen smoking shapes lay on the ground near him, all much smaller than the one he faced.

  “He won’t be able to stop it.”

  Gage stood nearby, bent over a dark form that lay on the ground. When Gage came to his feet, his hands shot up, and the head of the demon tore away from the body. He held the demon’s head between his hands. “Lower-level beasts are easy to deal with.” He tossed the head aside. “But your boyfriend’s taken on one of the really nasty ones.” He gave me a wide smile. “Too bad. You two seemed like such a cute couple.”

  I spun and ran full out toward the beast. Luke stood with his back against the wall. Sweat beaded his forehead, a frown creased his brow. Luke had powerful magic, and it was failing. The hellfire, the damned souls, none of it was having any effect on this demon. One more step, and it would reach him. And then his focus turned to me. He saw me rushing toward the creature. He stopped and cried out, “Colina, No!”

  I was no longer afraid. I screamed out, “Hey!”

  The demon turned. Its focus went off of Luke and onto me. It started toward me.

  Luke yelled out again. “Run. Save yourself!”

  I was done running. Everyone had told me I was the strongest mage around. I had magic no one else had ever seen. Mildred kept going on about how I didn’t know how truly powerful I was. It was time to believe.

  When I was just a few feet from the creature, I raised my arms in the air. I sent a mental call out to the dead. I might not have a lot of power over the living, but I could control the dead. I could feel them, dozens of spirits swirling about me. So many had died this night. So many brutal deaths.

  They pulled at my hair, they tugged at my clothes, they whispered in my ear. I ignored it all and focused all my attention on the demon before me.

  Fear—it’s what feeds the darkness. Love is what fuels the light. This time I looked not for the fear and hatred of the spirits, I looked for the love. True, I was working with the spirits of Redeemers and death dealers, but even these monsters had started out once as innocent children. No matter how awful the deeds, no matter how dark their souls, within each of them was a spark of light and love. I pulled it—I fed it. I shaped it until it was a ball of white light that was almost as big as the demon before me.

  And then with every ounce of strength I had in me, I threw it at the creature. The light engulfed the beast, and it shrieked and fought. It tried to get away, but it couldn’t. And then the light began to absorb the darkness. It sucked it in like a black hole, pulling in the stars. The demon’s body twisted and distorted and shrank until there was nothing left.

  “My dear, you truly are full of surprises.” Amusement laced Gage’s voice.

  I fell to my knees, taking deep breaths.

  Luke rushed to my side. “Are you all right?” He offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

  “I’m fine,” I said. The energy it had taken to kill the demon was immense, but to my surprise, I felt myself begin to recharge almost immediately. I didn’t know how often I would be able to repeat that trick, but I wasn’t out of the fight yet.

  A high-pitched scream sent both of us spinning on our heels.

  A demon had Darla pinned to the ground. The creature was misshapen, malformed, and its hunched shoulders sprouted uneven, stunted wings. Its claws rose high in the air, setting up a powerful swing that would take off her head.

  Luke cried out and his banshees flew in her direction. But they wouldn’t get there in time.

  I took two steps forward and then raised my arms. I focused my whole being on the demon hovering over Darla. When I had forced Weatherton’s spirit the other side, I had pulled his spirit and then pushed it through. I was the Queen of the Dead. Did I have power over the damned? I could kill them. I had proven that, but could I control them? Could I force them back through the Hellgate?

  I waved my hands and forced all my thoughts on the beast. And then I pushed. I mentally pushed at the creature, and it moved an inch. I spread my feet out and straightened my shoulders. I took a deep breath and let it out. I raised my hands higher in the air, and I pushed again. This time the creature was flung back about a foot.

  Darla scrambled out from under it.

  The creature’s head spun in my direction. Its beady red eyes focused on me.

  I lowered my hands and balled them into a fist. I gathered all the strength I had in me, and I raised my hands again and shoved with every bit of mental power I possessed. The demon flew toward the flaming gate.

  Something grabbed me, and I was tugged backward. It had me by the hair and was dragging me across the ground. A growling, creepy laughter echoed through the air. I looked up at it from the ground, and it seemed huge as it looked down at me with red eyes gleaming out of black folds. It towered over me, two huge horns arcing over me like the limbs of a tree. A cloven hoof the size of a manhole cover hammered by my head, shaking the rock
of the castle like an earthquake.

  For an instant, I froze in shock. I had seen this demon before. It was one of the three Archdemons I had seen in my dream. But here and now it was solid—a living, walking embodiment of evil.

  I could hear Luke yelling my name.

  It was more instinct than anything else that made me reach out my hands and grab onto the beast’s leg. My fingers slid along the hard, scaly surface—not skin, but something else. I steeled my mind and pulled myself closer to the beast.

  I called out to the ether sea. I could feel the energy swirling about me. “Goddess divine, mother of the earth, thee, who brings forth all life, hear my plea. Help me.” I shouted the words out as though they were a spell. I felt it, the tingle of energy in my legs, my body, and my hands. I released my grip and then pushed both my hands into the center of the beast.

  I felt the countless dark souls that the beast had absorbed. They were bound to a dark power hidden deep at the heart of the beast. I followed the ties that bound them, searching for the will that bound them together. It fought me, throwing wave after wave of consuming fire at my questing mind, but it splashed against my power and faded harmlessly away. Finally, I found it, and I strained, breaking through the last of its barriers of fire to touch its soul.

  He wheeled his horse expertly and chased down the straggler that had broken loose from the circle of horsemen. He spurred toward the fleeing woman, bringing his curved sword down on her back and laughing as she fell, twitching. Turning back to the mass of crying villagers, he drew to a stop and dismounted. His men shouted encouragements to him as stood surveying his prize.

  A beautiful young girl with long black hair and bewitching almond eyes struck his fancy. He strode forward, laying his hand gently on her cheek. Tears spilled over his fingers as she cried hopelessly.

  He took a moment to savor her fear, sucking her salty tears from his fingers before he smoothly cut her throat. Her fellow villagers screamed as he lowered his mouth to drink her blood. His fellow hunters laughed, shoving back a fresh group of panicked villagers who tried to flee…

  I recoiled from the memories, shocked by the evil of the act even over the gap of centuries. But the shock merely galvanized my anger. I found again the ties that bound the stolen souls to their ancient evil master, a network that bound them into one being. I used a blade of healing energy, like a scalpel for removing a tumor, to slice them cleanly away.

  The beast roared and fell back. I fell with him. My fingers glowing white, my body full of light. Heal. The word rang out in my mind and my body.

  The demon rocked, thousands of voices screaming in pain and joy at the same time. A burst of released energy rolled across the roof of the castle, throwing demon and human alike to the ground with a wave of heat. Ash filled the air, and in the drifting ash thousands of souls of every ilk cried out at once.

  I had never seen so many in one place, and they pressed down on me with the weight of their attention. I struggled to keep my focus, like a child trying not to be trampled in a fleeing crowd.

  In desperation, I sought the door to the other side, the door that seemed to be mine alone. I jerked it open and, with the last of my focus, took hold of the mass of swirling souls and shoved them through. All around me, flashes of light filled the air. Many were bursts of hellfire, dark souls returned to the eternal punishment they so richly deserved, but many were not. Bright light marked their passing, victims released from an eternity of bondage to a great evil.

  Silence fell on the rooftop. Even the rain seemed to pause. Demons and humans alike all stared at me in shock. The stillness lasted for a long second, but then every demon seemed to burst into motion at the same time. They rushed to the edge of the roof, scrambling over and down the sides like foam boiling from a pot left on the stove.

  Luke’s face hovered over me. Strong hands reached out and pulled me into an embrace. He helped me to my feet and then grabbed me close again. We held on to each other tightly, and then he pulled away.

  “How did you do that?” Luke looked at me with a mixture of awe and shock. His fingers reach out and caressed my cheek.

  I looked at him. How could I answer that question? I had been acting on pure instinct. I had not thought out what I was going to do, I had just done it. And if I concentrated hard enough on it, I could still feel the white power shimmer across my skin. But I was not afraid, not anymore. I could feel the light inside me, I could feel it burning hotter, warming my body, filling my mind with peace. The fear, the panic—it was gone. In its place I felt serenity and light and with it came pure power.

  The Hellgate. It was only a few feet away. Dozens, hundreds of black shadows were whizzing through it. Demons. They were crossing over from hell into our world. How many of them had been released? How many more would come through the hole? I had sent spirits through the veil from this world to the next. I had opened the portal to the other side before. Seen the flames from hell, heard the noises on the other side, the voices calling to me. If I could do that, maybe I could do the same thing with the Hellgate.

  I turned back to it, wondering at the suddenly decreased flow of demons. A winged shape forced its way through, immediately launching itself into the air. My eyes followed it as it sliced through the curtain of rain, leaving swirling vortices in the wet air.

  Motion drew my eyes back to the gate, and I saw two huge hands reach through to grab the sides of the portal. They began to strain, forcing the gate slowly wider. It stuttered and flared, resisting the horrible strength trying to force its way through. But soon I could see the thick arms and head of a huge man-like shape.

  The last Archdemon from my dream was trying to come through.

  I reached out with my will, looking for the key to the gate. I knew that my power had been used to open it, and my power should be able to close it. I reached out to the gate and found a nest of complex spells. It was the same portal I used to cross over spirits, locked into place on the physical plane. I tried to dig through the dense protections and get ahold of it at the same time that the demon tried to grab it from the other side.

  For a moment it was a draw, our wills locked together and straining, but then it gave in to my power. I grasped the door that was a part of me, and with a roar of effort, I slammed it shut.

  The flames died all at once, burning away into smoke in an instant, and all that remained were the blackened and melted stones that marked where the gate had been. Three fat fingers almost as long as a tall man and a head the size of a boulder lay on the ground. They turned black and rotted away as I watched.

  Blood dripped down my skin from the many gashes that now littered my body. But in spite of that, I felt better than I had in a long time. I was whole. The war that had raged in me was finally over. I had found my balance again.

  Gage was standing there watching me. His mouth was open in a round O, and then he seemed to collect himself. He raised an eyebrow and threw me a wide smile. “My, my, aren’t you something? Ding-dong, the Archdemon is dead.” He put his forearm across his chest and knelt down on one knee. “All hail the Queen of the Dead.” And then a wicked smile spread across his face. “The Queen of the Damned.”

  Gage was being ludicrous, making one of his bizarre points that made no sense to anyone but him. Any moment now he would start laughing his twisted laugh, and everyone would stare at him like he was crazy.

  But that isn’t what happened.

  Instead, the death dealers joined him on their knees. One by one, the dozen men and women still alive knelt to me and bowed their heads. Slowly, and with a warm smile on his face, Luke joined them. Dean clanked to Luke’s side, putting a hand on his shoulder and lowering himself painfully to his knees, the steel of his armor rattling on the stones.

  I felt a small hand in mine, and I looked down to see Jamie holding my hand, a happy smile on her face. Around us, the spirit pack had assembled.

  Darla stormed toward us. “Why? Why aren’t you killing her? She opened a Hellgate! She let the de
mons loose in our world!”

  Mildred walked to face her. “No, my dear. You did.”

  Darla looked shocked and horrified and then took a step back as if struck. “That’s ridiculous. I—”

  “First you gave the demon what it most desired: dark souls,” Mildred said.

  “Someone had to kill that bastard!” Darla cried.

  “And you did such a good job of it. You fed the demon dozens of dark souls, making it stronger,” Mildred said. “Then you broke the protection spell.”

  “I broke…” She looked at the dark spot on the ground where the potion had spilled, confusion smothering her anger.

  “And then you cut Colina and pushed her into the circle. You took what was a safe, controlled spell, and you broke it to pieces.” Mildred took a step toward Darla. “Child, your actions set the demons free,”

  “I… I…” Tears flowed freely down Darla’s face. She looked desperately around her, as if she hoped for a voice to speak out and correct the old woman. But no one did.

  Mildred looked over at me. “Colina is the one who must lead us now. For we are at war with the dark beasts again.”

  Darla turned to look at me, her mouth moving as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Slowly, as if every movement hurt her, she lowered herself to her knees. She buried her face in her hands, crying piteously. I remembered, in that instant, just how young she was, and how rough I had made her life. I had stolen her youth, and I regretted it deeply.

  Luke rose to his feet, walked over to his sister, and wrapped his arms around her.

  All of the survivors slowly got to their feet. I looked around at all the faces staring at me. There was both awe and wonder in their eyes. They were looking at me to lead them. Looking at me as though I was some mythical creature.