Damoren

by Seth Skorkowsky

  “Mal,” Matt yelled stepping back. “We have a problem.”

  The walls around the ifrit caught fire as did the clothes of the bodies at its feet. Black soot clouded the clear door. The demon’s brilliant green eyes stared hatefully from the blaze.

  Sprinklers popped and water rained down from the ceiling. Steam and smoke filled the passage, squelching the burning walls, but did nothing but mildly dim the ifrit’s fiery body still visible through the clouds.

  “Luc!” Mal called into the radio. “We need you.”

  A terrible crash thundered to the side as a monstrous form burst through the barred stained glass windows in the back of the west wing. Matt turned as a huge blue creature dressed in banded armor smashed its way through the opening. A single curved horn jutted from its forehead. An oni.

  Matt ran for the door, nearly slipping on the slick marble floor. Malcolm beat him there, drawing his sawed-off and shoving it through the narrow gap between the door and the wall.

  He fired.

  Most of the shot deflected off the demon’s armor, but some found its exposed shoulder and neck. The oni howled. All but two of the wounds instantly closed. Matt guessed those were the jade pellets.

  The demon leapt to the side before Malcolm could fire the second barrel. It raised its hands in a double fist and smashed it into one of the island cases in the middle of the room. Glass and wood exploded as the case flew end over end toward them. Matt yanked Malcolm back before the case smashed into the door gap, spraying broken shrapnel through the tight opening.

  The oni roared and raced to the case with the toki poutangata inside. Sparks glittered off its skin as it crossed the line of warding powder. It smashed its fist down, shattering the glass top.

  “Push it!” Malcolm yelled as he and Matt fought with the broken case leaning endwise against the gap, trying to get their weapons through.

  The oni snatched the holy weapon and turned back toward the hole in the wall. Matt jammed Dämoren hard into a broken plank of white particle board and knocked it aside. He fired. The bullet missed by a fraction, blowing out one of the remaining colored panes as the demon jumped into the raining night.

  Malcolm screamed in frustration, pounding his fist into the bulletproof glass.

  Fighting the urge to join him, Matt drew a breath and looked to the northern doorway. Smoke and steam still billowed behind the blacked security door, but the ifrit was gone.

  “Move!” Luc bellowed, charging into the domed gallery. He clomped up to the thirty-foot high door sealing the western wing and raised Velnepo in both hands. Malcolm stepped back, averting his eyes as the massive hunter smashed his mace into the towering bulletproof shield.

  The weapon hit with a deafening crash. Matt stumbled backward, stunned as thousands of tiny, white cracks scattered through a ten-foot wide panel of the glass. Luc hit the door again and it buckled.

  Wide-eyed, Matt watched Luc smash the mace into the door again, blasting tiny chunks across the long gallery beyond. The entire broken section collapsed inward, crackling and curling down, its thick laminate holding it mostly together as it fell to the floor.

  The men raced through the opening, broken glass crunching beneath their feet. They reached the shattered, stained glass window at the back of the gallery and climbed up onto the stone sill. The black, iron bars that had covered the window now lay in the grass below. Matt peered through the rain down the dark streets. Red tail lights sped away in the distance. They turned sharply around a bend, then vanished. The adze was gone.

  Chapter Eleven

  They met Jean’s team in the museum entrance. Three corpses littered the inlaid church floor. A monstrous werewolf lay among them, red phantasmal flames flickering over its fur. Ben sat against one of the old church columns, clutching his arm. Blood stained a cloth tied to his shoulder. The smell of smoke from fire and shooting still hung in the air.

  Across the room Luc held his pistol over a black-clad man lying face down on the floor, hands cuffed behind his back. Anya sat on a carved bench nearby, Baroovda across her lap, and a small revolver pointed at the prisoner.

  Allan rushed over and knelt beside Ben. He unzipped a red canvas bag and removed rolls of bandages.

  “What happened?” Jean demanded.

  “They attacked us,” Malcolm answered, his lips barely moving. “At least eight demons, several humans. We killed five of the demons, but they got the toki poutangata.”

  “How?”

  “We held them off in the domed gallery, but then an oni broke in through the back of the western wing and took it,” Malcolm said. “The security doors had closed so we couldn’t get there to stop it.”

  “How did they get inside?”

  Malcolm’s eyes turned to Matt. “That’s a good question. How did they make it past the alarms, Matt?” his voice accusing.

  Matt shook his head. “The system said all the doors were locked and armed. But one of the doors was open. The one you were supposed to be watching.”

  “Are you saying I let them in?” Malcolm snapped.

  “You didn’t notice the door was open?” Matt shot back.

  “You were the one watching the cameras.” Malcolm stabbed a finger. “You could have disabled the alarms from the guard room. Maybe you came down after I’d passed and opened the door.”

  Matt snorted. “Yeah. I came down and opened the door. You’re right. Then I radioed a break in, just to warn you. Then I killed a ghoul that was about to get Kazuo right before a strutter nearly tore my fucking face off! That makes a lot of sense.”

  Eyes moved to Kazuo standing beside them. His army katana hung at his waist.

  The small man nodded. “He shot and killed a ghoul attacking me from behind,” he said in the quiet, matter of fact way he always spoke. “I saw the flames. He killed it.”

  “Matt killed three human servants,” Luc rumbled. “I trust him.”

  Malcolm clenched his jaw. He looked at Matt. “They got in somehow.”

  “They came in expecting us,” Matt said, fighting his anger back. “And the side door wasn’t the only one they got in through. They might have planned this all along.”

  Jean’s hard eyes moved to Ben. “Are you all right?”

  The Indian tensely nodded. “Succubus...flew down and grabbed...me. Anya shot it...before it could mark me. It dropped me. Fall broke my arm.”

  “He’ll be okay,” Allan said. The Englishman inserted a syringe into a small bottle and drew out its clear liquid. “We’ll need to get him to hospital or back to the chateau.”

  “Is anyone else hurt?”

  Malcolm shook his head. “Anya hurt her ankle in the fight, but nothing serious.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Walking hurts.”

  Jean nodded and pointed to the prisoner at Luc’s feet.

  “Demon worshiper,” Anya said.

  “He’s not possessed,” Malcolm said. He held up a small brass pendant on a medal chain. The image of a winged, human-faced snake, reared to strike, adorned the metal. “He had this on him.”

  Jean took the pendant. “This is the same symbol from the ones in Spain?”

  “It is.” Matt fished another pendant from his pocket. “There were other attackers upstairs wearing them as well.”

  “The tracker?” Jean asked.

  Malcolm lifted his phone. The screen showed a map of the city. “It sent a pulse a minute ago.”

  “We’ll have to get to it before they find it or break the weapon,” Jean said. “There was shooting and, if anyone heard, it the police might be here soon. We need to lock up and leave immediately. I’ll call Turgen and brief him on the situation. He’ll start on damage control.” He gestured to Ben. “Get him into the car. Load the prisoner and Anya as well. Allan, you take them back to the chateau.”

  “I can drive,” Anya said.

  Jean shook his head. “You’re hurt.”

  “But I can drive. No need to lose one more knight. Ben and I can handle the prisoner to th
e chateau.”

  “Not on morphine he can’t.” Allan said, tucking the empty syringe back into a plastic case.

  “Then dope the prisoner, too,” she said. “Jean, they attacked us with eight demons. Three lived, including an oni. And not Selene, a different one. There’s no telling how many of them there are and how many of these bastards they have with them,” she said, gesturing with her pistol. “We can’t afford to lose another knight driving Ben and I back to the chateau. If I could go with you I would, but someone needs to take them back. Make it me.”

  “She’s right,” Ben said sleepily, his eyes closed and head against the column.

  Jean pursed his lips and nodded. Finally he said, “Fine. Anya drives. Everyone else, load into the van. Gather your things. I want us gone in three minutes.”

  #

  Rain streaked the window beside Matt as they drove east, out of the city down a winding, two lane highway. Allan sat beside him, his gaze locked on the screen in his lap. Outside was dark. Trees. Countryside.

  “There!” Allan said.

  A blue dot flashed on the screen’s map. “Seven kilometers. Just stay on the motorway.”

  The van’s tires squealed as Jean took a bend just a little too fast. Matt chewed his lip, watching the little dot pulse on Allan’s screen. Where were they going? The demons might be taking the adze to China for all they knew. What if the demons found the tracker? Maybe stuck it on the side of some random car now being followed by a team of pissed off hunters. What if it was too late? They could have broken the weapon already.

  No. Matt shook away the doubt and focused on his anger. They were going to find the demons. Find them and kill them.

  He looked at his watch. 1:46. The tracker would signal again in five minutes.

  Half an hour ago he’d been sitting in the museum’s guard room thinking about how much he wanted to see Luiza. Now she sat on the bench directly behind him.

  ‘Careful what you wish for,’” Clay always said.

  Matt turned in his seat to see her. She stared out the window, her eyes hard. Luiza met his gaze and her expression softened for just a moment. She looked away and the hardness returned.

  The rain had slowed to a light sprinkle by the time the tracker pulsed again.

  “Four kilometers,” Allan said.

  Everyone in the van seemed to tense. No one spoke. All eyes watched the road ahead, hoping to see taillights around every turn.

  There were none. The tension continued to shuffle through the passengers.

  “Hold on,” Allan said, zooming in on the map. “We passed it.”

  “Where?” Jean asked.

  “Two kilometers back.”

  Cursing, Jean slowed to the edge of the road, alongside a flooded ditch, then pulled the van around in a tight u-turn. He hit the gas and they sped back the up the road.

  “Take this next left,” Allan said.

  They turned up a small road into the hills. Matt checked his watch again as they neared the last signal site.

  The little dot blipped again, but barely. They were less than a mile away.

  “We’re right on top of it,” Allan said. “Four hundred meters to the left of us.”

  Jean slowed as everyone peered out the windows. The road eased around a hill and a light came into view, illuminating a tall sign. Beside it, a metal gate sat partially open across a wide entrance drive.

  “There,’ Allan said, leaning in beside Matt. He peered back at his screen. “It’s in there.”

  The vehicle stopped. Jean killed the headlights.

  Matt looked back at the sign, trying to read the green French writing. “Asphe?”

  “Mining company,” Jean said. “It’s a kaolin mine.”

  Another mine, Matt thought with a groan. Wonderful.

  Allan touched the top corner of his screen and the map changed to a daytime satellite overlay. The mine area appeared like a great white scoop carved out of the surrounding green landscape. It reminded Matt of those chocolate covered ice cream cones when you took a bite out of them.

  “Unless it’s changed since this photo was made,” Allan said, zooming out. “There’s a second entrance three kilometers further down the road.”

  “We can’t let them escape,” Malcolm said.

  Jean sat quiet for a few seconds before he spoke. “Luc, Susumu, and I will go to the other entrance. Malcolm, you lead the others from here. Keep your radios on. I don’t want anyone shooting each other.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Understood.”

  Matt swallowed. He couldn’t help but notice that once again, Jean kept Susumu separate from Kazuo and himself, even though they were the only two who could fully speak with him. Though he suspected it was more at the samurai’s request than bad leadership.

  “You heard him,” Malcolm said, opening the front passenger door. “On me.”

  Kazuo yanked open the side door and hopped out, Allan right behind him. Matt flipped his radio back on, touched Dämoren at his side, and followed.

  A light mist of rain hit his face. Save the single light above the sloped drive it was dark. Country dark. He held up the blood compass to the light of the sign.

  “Got anything?” Allan asked. He gripped his khopesh beside him.

  Matt shook his head. “Not yet. Probably won’t be able to see it once we get down in there.”

  Luiza hopped out and drew Feinluna. The saber’s blade glinted in the scant light. “Well, Matt. Looks like I’ll finally get to see if that reputation of yours is true.”

  “Looks that way.” He winked.

  Her brow arched coyly.

  “I know I don’t need to say this,” Jean said through the open door. “But be careful.” Luc pulled the door closed from the inside and the van pulled away.

  Metal rasped as Kazuo drew Akumanokira. “Killing an oni would be a great honor for Susumu,” he said. “I would very much like to get to it before him.”

  “Understood,” Matt said with a grin.

  Malcolm nodded as if to himself, then turned to the hunters. “Let’s go.”

  They hurried toward the entrance, circling around the single light pole’s glow as much as they could. They passed the pipe metal gate, plastered with warning signs and followed a paved road up and around a low rise.

  Matt stopped before cresting the hill and checked the blood compass again. Still pink. He opened the shaker at his belt and sprinkled a line of powder across the road, between a pair of stone retaining walls. Don’t know how much good this’ll do. Not like they can’t go around it. But he liked the idea of at least slowing a demon down. The powder melted over the wet asphalt instantly, but Matt knew that did little to diminish its potency. If nothing else, it kept the wind from blowing it away. Once finished he closed the shaker and hurried to where the others crouched.

  Beyond the hill, the entire area opened up into a massive, tiered pit. A metal building toward the back overlooked the white quarry. Light shone through several windows but they saw no movement. Several large trucks and hulking pieces of mining equipment rested near the bottom of the basin beside a wide lagoon of dark water.

  They hurried to a group of earthen mounds piled off to one side. Behind them, Allan removed the tablet phone from his pocket.

  “All right,” he said, trying to shield the screen’s light. “According to this, the last pulse came from right around that building. He peered over the mound. Right down there.”

  Matt followed Allan’s gaze. A dark box truck sat parked one earthen tier below the structure.

  “That looks like the truck from the video,” Luiza said quietly. “The one they moved Selene in.”

  “Yeah,” Malcolm said, scanning the area. “But where is everyone?”

  “Inside?” Kazuo said.

  “Maybe.” Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “This doesn’t look right to me.”

  “Last two pulses came from that same spot,” Allan said, turning off his screen. “We need to go down there.”

  “Matt, you
got anything in that bottle of yours?” Malcolm asked.

  Matt pulled the plastic bottle out held it against the pale backdrop of the clay mound. He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “What’s the range on that?”

  “Hundred yards in the open. As little as fifty feet if there’s a lot of stuff in the way.”

  “There,” Luiza hissed. She pointed to a dark shape moving around the building. It looked like a person, but Matt couldn’t tell much beyond than that in the dark. The figure walked down the earthen slope to the truck and opened the passenger door.

  A few seconds later, the figure came back out. A yellow light flared as it lit a cigarette. After a few puffs, it turned and started back up toward the building.

  “Do you think they got the adze?” Kazuo asked.

  “No,” Luiza answered. “If they were going to take it they’d have done that when they got here.”

  “We’ll just hold here until the next signal,” Allan said.

  Malcolm nodded in agreement.

  Allan shuffled on the rocky pile, causing a miniature avalanche of pebbles as he crouched to check his phone. He froze. Matt looked back at the smoker, but it didn’t appear to have heard him. Once it reached the building, it took a final drag and then flicked the orange-embered butt out into the basin. Light spilled out as he opened a door. He wore black robes, just like the ones videoed in Spain. The dark-haired man looked human enough, but Matt knew that didn’t really mean much.

  “I didn’t see it on him,” Luiza said.

  After two very long minutes, Allan said, “There. It’s still in the truck.” He flipped off the phone’s bright screen.

  “Good.” Malcolm turned to the others. “All right we don’t know if that guy has more friends coming, and I want to secure the adze before they do. Luiza, you and Allan follow me. Once we reach that slope just right of the truck, you two hold there. Matt, you follow behind us. Kazuo, stay with him. Keep your eyes up on that building. Hold position down there.” He pointed to a dingy bulldozer parked fifty feet to the left of the truck. “If that compass of yours goes off, signal us.”