The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga)

by Hudson, Stephanie

  “You have got to be joking?” I whispered at him from behind Jared’s back.

  “Do I look like a fucking Jester, little girl? This shit is ugly and I will need a drink and a sweet piece of ass after a night of ugly…you volunteering, sweetie?” He asked winking at me.

  “Knock it off, Orth!” Jared snapped without taking his eyes from the sea of uglies that Orthrus had named them…and rightly so, I thought shuddering.

  “Speaking of Jesters, where is our buddy Marcus?”

  “I sent him a text, so fingers crossed doing what he does best and coming up the rear.” I bit my lip as that was quite funny.

  “Play nice, brother” Jared said trying also not to laugh.

  “Never gonna happen, Brother! So what’s the plan here J, ‘cause I gotta tell ya, we have been staring at these fuckers for a while now and I am getting bored of the zombie dumb ass show.”

  “No-one has voiced their demands?” Jared asked, but before his brother could answer him, another voice took that liberty.

  “Oh now, I wouldn’t say that.” I looked to see the army part to let through a man wearing a suit, one who I couldn’t see properly thanks to the shadows that hid him.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about this asshole.” Orthrus said as if he hardly mattered.

  “Enough! Hand over the girl and I will consider letting you live, mongrels.” Orthrus whistled low and said,

  “Oh Hell no, did he just say that, Bro?”

  “You know Orth, I think he did.” Jared said in a voice that screamed so close to the edge of ferocity, I felt it buzzing through his back.

  “Oh shit man, now you gone and done it, do you not have any idea who my brother is, you dumb fuck!?” Orthrus taunted making his men snarl at the wave of demons getting ready to attack.

  “I don’t care what breed of dog he is, NOW GIVE ME THE GIRL!” He roared.

  “You heard him brother, go give him your girls.” Jared said to Orthrus smiling.

  “With pleasure.” He replied kissing his fists, before walking ahead of the rest.

  “What is he doing?” I whispered into Jared’s back.

  “Just wait and see, pet.”

  “Very well… my Death soldiers, tear these dogs apart!”

  And just like that, a swarm of mutated men were released from their verbal control and attacked…

  A war at the Hellfire had begun.

  Chapter 46

  Bring the Rage

  Orthrus opened his arms wide in the centre of the courtyard and just as the first wave of demons came at him, something started to happen. The earth beneath him started to split but there was no rumble or evidence of the earth quaking other than the sight of it.

  “What is he…?” I started to ask when the sight of something emerging from the hole in the ground had me stopping. The tear in the earth spanned the length of his legs and some sort of creature started to pull itself up, grabbing a foot first. Orthrus shuddered and then it all happened in a matter of seconds. The congealed black sand used his body to drag itself from the pit of what I could only imagine was Hell itself. It started to cover his legs first, wrapping itself around him then turning to thick liquid and seeping into his clothes. As it moved up his body with such speed, it then revealed something darker in place of the body that once was Orthrus.

  I gasped as I got my first sight of the beast he was becoming. A pair of animal feet like no other stood holding the weight of the transformation taking place. They had four massive claws of thick bone that curled into the ground like spikes. His skin was black but looked like cooling molten rock that cracked, showing the glow of hot power beneath the surface. A larger back claw knifed out at the heel and I saw it pound into the ground before Orthrus fell forward as the last of his other self over took him. He raised his upper body and roared into the night as the liquid sand disappeared into his open mouth, as if trying to drown him in his own demon form.

  What was left was a living, breathing nightmare of a demonic beast the size of a bull. All his body looked to be made from cooling lava as if he had merged with the volcano’s eruption instead of dying from it. But the sight of his hissing, cracking skin was nothing compared to his head…or should I say ‘heads’, as he had two of them. They looked different and if I could compare them to anything, I would say it was like a Rottweiler on steroids one side and a rabid German Shepherd on the other, only these two were bigger, meaner, demonic and more deadly!

  The demon horde that came after him looked like an army of men once upon a time, but now they were nothing more than empty shells that only had death on their minds. There were no loved ones to fight for, there were no thoughts of country and honour and there was no fighting for protection. There was only death in their eyes and that death was their only need.

  And Orthrus was in their sights. But from the looks of things that was just fine with him, as the first demon that got close enough found its head in a vice of jaws from two killers. In one second it was raising its arm in attack and the next it was missing its head.

  It was as this small army came closer, that I realised I had seen them before and I gasped in my hands as that memory resurfaced. It had been the last time Sigurd’s darkness had transported me into the land of nightmares…only now it was starting to look more like into the land of things to come. The time in my prison when those creatures had come closer was like a replay in reality as they once again made their way towards me.

  They each had their own weapons of choice embedded somewhere in their bodies and their tall flaky forms were disfigured because of the fact. Dark ash corroded the area, like the next one coming closer to Orthrus. This one had an axe cutting into the side of his neck, making his head favour his unaffected shoulder. The blackened skin around the metal licked out along the pealing skin and made half of his dead face look charred and burnt.

  Just as before, he got within distance of Orthrus’ snapping fangs that dripped with saliva, the demon reached up and pulled the axe from its fleshy holder. Then with more strength than I would have counted on, he swung it at Jared’s brother’s heads. It nicked one pointed ear as he didn’t move quickly enough, but that looked to be his last mistake. As his beast of a body twisted away, in the next move he was snaking back and ripping the arm that held the weapon, clean off.

  As another came running at him, so he threw the arm out of his way, making the axe skid across the floor towards us.

  “I think it’s time to join the fun, boys.” Jared said nodding each side at his men. They smiled as though he had just given them Christmas off and then they fell to the ground ready for their own change. I couldn’t help but grip onto Jared’s back as the earth split once more, only this time in three places. The one on our left, where Orthrus had been standing, changed the quickest. Only this time instead of black sand to cover him, it was thousands of tiny thin roots of grey snakes that slithered up from the hole.

  In no time at all there was now a snarling beast that looked more like a giant wolf with spikes along its spine, although there was no soft fur to speak of. It stretched out as if readying for the fight and it sounded like tension wire being pulled tight.

  By the time I looked to my right, the other two had already transformed. One looked a lot sleeker than the others and this wasn’t just down to a more panther like body. No, this one wasn’t like the others at all, as it was covered in a shiny thick red oil that was the colour of dark blood. I just hoped he didn’t feel like shaking his fur because I didn’t fancy a bloody shower!

  The very last one was a similar size to Orthrus, who was the biggest one of the pack. His pale skin was pulled painfully taut over jagged bones that looked like they had inverted outwards. His own ribcage had fanned out and sharp bone became a weapon on his back, should anyone try and attempt to take him down. Even his skull had been morphed into flat horns that looked as if they could be used as a battering ram. And from the sight of him with his head lowered ready, I didn’t think I was wrong.

  They all lo
oked towards Jared, their master and on his nod they all leapt into action. Each one of them mid leap landed on a demon and started tearing into him. Jared then turned to me and said,

  “I need to get you safe.” I looked behind us back to the caves.

  “No, that’s what he wants, that’s why he surrounds us here, to try and force us back. He wants me to lose you in the caves so he…”

  “JARED, LOOK OUT!” I screamed just as one of the creatures slipped passed the chaos and came barrelling towards us. He was covered in hammered metal plates that had been fused to his skin and his head looked like it was half machine. The terminator came to mind just as he crashed into Jared, who had positioned himself in front of me.

  Jared, even in his human form, was still an unstoppable force. He flipped his body upright and grabbed the demon. He quickly did the same as me and zeroed in on the weak spot on his back as this was an area without plated armour. Then he delivered a series of kidney punches that came so quickly it was impossible to count them. The demon fell to his knees but not from pain. He used this motion as an escape from Jared’s pounding fists.

  I saw another demon look towards us and decide to get in on the action. But with Jared still focused on destroying the plated one, he didn’t see what I was seeing. I backed up and a pair of white eyes locked onto to me. I knew I had to do something and running off screaming like a little girl was going to be as practical as a chocolate gun, with candy bullets. I looked desperately round the space for any type of weapon and came across a severed arm with its hand still clutching an axe.

  It couldn’t have just been an axe…oh no, not me, it had to come with an arm! I thought as I ran to it. I looked up to see the demon coming closer but he was slower than the rest, as he was dragging his foot behind him. I thought at first that he was already injured but then saw the glint from the moon shining from the leg length blade attached to his hip bone. Well, he might not be quick but he sure was packing!

  I looked down at the arm and noticed with disgust that its fingers were still twitching around the axe’s handle.

  “Typical.” I said and then stamped my foot down on its wrist hoping this would release his grip. I then quickly reached down and snatched the axe before its hand could fist around the wood again. I picked it up, feeling its hefty weight, wishing I had some more of Draven’s mojo left in me. I looked up just in time to see the demon reach out and try to grab me. So, on a scream, I swung the axe round with all my puny strength. The demon reared back as I missed him but the momentum twisted my body more than I planned for and took me a few feet away from him.

  I righted myself and dragged the axe back with me to be closer to Jared who looked to be finishing with the plated guy. He had just jumped up and delivered a downward punch to the top of the demon’s head, where now a fist sized dent had caved in part of his face.

  “Uh…Jared…could use a… little help over here.” I said backing up further. Jared looked up from the guy on the floor to find me being stalked. He swiftly stomped down on the guy’s spine, breaking his back in a sickening crunch of bones shattering. I used every shred of my strength to raise the axe up, hoping to use the weight to drive it down when needed. I jumped as I felt the axe being taken from me and I looked up to find Jared smiling down at me.

  “You’re just full of surprises, pet.” Then he winked at me like we were on a date.

  “And you’re crazy.” I said on a laugh. He nodded as though what I just said was obvious and then he proved that statement true. He cracked his neck and swung the axe to rest over his shoulder like some demonic woodcutter. The muscles bunched under leather and he strolled up to the demon who was still dragging his weapon behind him. It was looking quite helpless until it lashed out with its weapon infused leg with blinding speed. Jared jumped up enough to miss the propelled blade that spun the demon round. Jared then smiled before swinging the axe like a mad man. Parts soon started to be chopped off left, right and centre, so I looked away from the grotesque butchering.

  My eyes quickly caught a flash of something by my feet and I screamed again as it was the plated demon that had crawled my way. He grabbed my foot in a painful hold with metal bent fingers and I stamped down on his shoulder to get him to release me.

  “Oh. Just. Die!” I said each word with another stomp of my foot but it was as if he couldn’t even feel it.

  “DIE! You stupid tin can!” I shouted and then shrieked when I saw an axe blade take off most of the demon’s head.

  “Tin can…really, that’s the best you could do?” Jared asked with his eyes aglow with dangerous excitement. I kicked out of the dead demon’s hold and said,

  “I thought it would be degrading, but next time I will try ‘little dick’ and see if that helps.” Jared burst out laughing as he pulled me to his chest and gave me a swift kiss. Then I was let go in breathless wonder, to see him back in serious killer mode.

  “I need to get you safe.” Then he looked around to assess the situation. There were piles of dead demons, most of which were missing vital parts of their bodies. I think if there had been lots of blood and gore I would have thrown up long ago. Thankfully though, this wasn’t the case, as it was more like black dust and bits of burnt paper that came from the broken bodies. They were like man-shaped, skin sacked dirt.

  His beasts were making short work of killing and I saw two trying to hold onto the one covered in oil but they couldn’t grasp him for his slick body. He gripped one by the leg and rolled quickly, ripping the demons limb away from the rest of its body. Then I saw the other two playing tug of war with one demon that had a mace for a head. He was trying to ram his face full of spikes into the bellies of the beasts that had him, but then he literally split in half from his crotch up to his chest. They left him with half his ribcage sticking out. Ok, so now I felt a bit ill!

  “Yo J, can I crash this party of yours or what?” The voice came from above us and we saw Marcus stood in between the empty flint window frames, taking in the scene of carnage with a smile.

  “About fucking time Marcus, get your ass down here.” I felt the whoosh of air and then there he was standing next to me.

  “Hey spunky, you causing trouble again?” He asked me, making Jared growl and Marcus grin.

  “So what’s the plan here J, you want me to do some roasting?” Jared raised an eyebrow at the thought and I had no idea what he meant but from the sounds of it, I didn’t want to!

  “When I give the signal I want you to get Keira out of here. Transport her to the Mausoleum and wait for me there.” Marcus crossed his arms and pouted before saying,

  “Now that doesn’t sound very exciting J, surely you’re not going to make me miss out on all of the fun.” Jared rolled his eyes and then stood back and raised his arm out at the fighting,

  “Be my guest, Marcus.” The evil smile that raised his sinister jester features made me shudder.

  “Don’t mind if I do, My Lord.” He bowed gracefully and then straightened in one fluid motion. He was dressed like a modern day pirate. With his long dark red leather jacket that had black metal buttons down its length and large cuffs folded back. With this he’d added a pair of skin tight jeans in light grey and a Beatles T-shirt with a loose thin scarf draped round multiple times.

  Marcus stepped further into the centre and just as two demons came running at him from both sides he pulled a long thin blade from the holder hanging low by his thigh, hidden by his long jacket. He raised that blade to his lips, kissed it and ran it slowly through one closed hand. The blade came out the other side engulfed in red flames.

  Just as the demons attacked, Marcus side stepped one way and arched his blade up, cutting up the torso of one demon and then one step back had him slicing down into the next. Both fell to the floor in less than three seconds and only two steps.

  “Man, he’s good.” I said looking on in awe. Jared just scoffed,

  “Damn show off.”

  Jared’s comment had me wondering why he hadn’t yet changed himself
. Was it to protect me better?

  “I see dickhead showed up.” Orthrus said now back in his human form, slick with sweat from his full body workout. Tight black muscles were still tensed and at the ready under his wet shirt. He looked like a tank ready to roll over someone.

  “You gotta give it to him Bro, he’s certainly got finesse.” Jared commented at the sight of Marcus slicing apart his foe in a blaze of strokes.

  “I don’t gotta give him shit, unless it’s mine to eat.” Orthrus replied, rolling his shoulders. Jared laughed at his brother and smacked him on the back in some sacred brotherly code for love and respect.

  All of Jared’s men fell back to the line as all the demons in the courtyard had been forced to rest…and with no chance at getting back up again.

  “So what now, ‘cause I gotta say, that seemed a bit too easy.” Marcus said coming back last. He ran his hand over his blade and the flames died down to nothing before he sheathed it. However, a moment after that statement, another line of demons came from around the sides and collected together in front of us.

  I turned to see Orthrus smack Marcus upside the head making the little bells in his red hair jingle.

  “You just had to say it didn’t you!” Orthrus scolded at Marcus.

  “Just for you I did sugar lips, anyway quit your Conan belly a’rumblin, you know you live for this shit.” Marcus counteracted.

  “I also live for pounding on cocky little jester runts such as yourself.”

  “Cut it off, you two and save it for the damn horde!” Jared snarled at them both and when his back was turned Orthrus rubbed his middle finger down his face and Marcus blew him a kiss in return.

  “You have one more chance Cerberus, hand over the girl and walk away.” The suited man’s voice rang out as a clear threat to my life and Jared started laughing.

  “Well, at least the asshole knows who we are now.” Orthrus said smiling.

  “What’s wrong Gastian, running out of death dealers and think you’re pretty voice will scare me?” This got him a reaction as the mysterious Gastian bellowed a demonic rumble.