by Doug Burbey
"Still packing light. I see?" Declan said as he pointed to the Redhawk on Greg's chest.
"Always safe to assume if I'm shooting something, then I'm probably going to need to make a big damn hole. I keep telling you to dump those .45s for some man gun." Greg said with a smirk on his face.
"I'll leave the burning desire for man gun all to you, Greg,” Declan replied as he reached down and clipped both sides of his heavy hunter's coat open, allowing free access to his additional magazines stored on his protective chest plate carrier and the backup side arm riding in his thigh holster. He then pulled his Vulture around to the front of his chest and chambered the first round.
Greg noticed several people on the fringes of the park apparently taking pictures of the helicopter and talking on their phones. "I think it's time to move, DK. We've become popular already."
With a quick nod of his head, Declan turned towards the small line of trees in front of the street, between him and the building. He moved quickly towards them with Greg easily keeping pace slightly to his left and behind him. From his map recon, Declan knew that behind the trees they would have to cross the street and be able to move directly into the entrance-way of the graduate student residence hall. They both reached the trees then hopped the small fence that separated the park from the sidewalk. The sound of shattering glass came from the entrance of the residence hall. With a quick glance in both directions, DK and Greg rushed across the street towards the front of the building entrance. Without glancing over his shoulder, knowing Greg would be doing the same thing, Declan raised his carbine to his shoulder, looking for targets in front of him as he jogged towards the doors.
"All right Greg, you get left. I got right. Should be a set of double doors as we come in the hallway. The left side of the entryway is yours, the right side is mine. Then there's the second set of doors going to the courtyard. Once we clear hallways on the right side of the entryway, we’ll see which way we’re going - left, right or into the courtyard." Declan instructed as they approached the front of the building at a trot.
"Shit, contact! One forward!" Greg yelled loudly from Declan's left as he immediately lifted and fired three rounds through the glass door in front of Declan. The first round shattering the storm glass as the heavy rifle's round exploded through the door and into the blur of moving orange off to Declan's left side. Knowing the target was engaged. Declan focused on his field of engagement area to his front right. Greg would take care of his left. Declan shouldered through the intact door on the right as Greg vaulted through the broken door on the left, getting a clearer look at his target. The crumpled mass of the type one demon was on the floor, struck by all three of Greg's rounds.
"Son of a bitch. Eyes up, Greg. There's never just one of these bastards!" Declan saw the broken glass, probably the noise they heard earlier, that once belonged to the door leading out to the courtyard and between the buildings. He could hear and feel, the screeching hum a magical portal emanated from a very close proximity.
"Shit, they got a portal held open. We need to shut it down before these guys pull anything else through for God sake. We'll push straight into the courtyard right now and take it out." Declan shouted as he turned to sprint towards the outer doors to the courtyard but before he took two steps a hold on his collar yanked him nearly off his feet. He glanced back at Greg, confused.
"Too late, too late, we got incoming. Back up!" Greg yelled releasing Declan's collar and raising his AR 10 and immediately started firing through the doorway into the courtyard as Declan was caught unprepared by the blisteringly loud retort of Greg's heavy rifle as he emptied the magazine shooting at new targets. Greg reached for a replacement from his combat harness. As Greg reloaded Declan could feel his battle senses kicking in with an awareness of targets in front of him that cleared and sharpened. In his limited scope of vision, he could see at least three ring one demons and a ring two demon closing in on the door he been about to rush through. Choosing his first target he fired two rounds from his carbine striking the closest ring one demon in the chest, collapsing it about ten meters from the glass door. Then he shifted to the second ring one demon following its ill-fated companion. As he fired the first round, he heard Greg engaging from his left with both weapons hitting the same target simultaneously ripping a gaping wound in the center of the demon knocking it backward onto the ground. The ring two demons sensed the unexpected threat in front of him and quickly moved to the side, away from their field of direct fire.
"Son of a bitch, we have got to get in there. You get a look at where that ring two went?" Declan shouted at Greg, his ears ringing.
"No, I just saw two go the right. I did catch a glimpse of a glow from the courtyard. And I can feel that portal myself. That means we got some dumb fuck mages out there also that I guess we need to assume are hostile."
"Yeah, this sucks - mages and demons. I wasn't planning on this. Figured we were only going to have to break up some college kids trying to expand their horizons."
"Well let's go, DK. No time like the present to break up this budding inter-realm relationship."
DK and Greg began to move forward in a crouch and hesitated momentarily as they spotted the ring two demon again. This time it was falling back into their field of vision apparently deflecting an attack from something.
What the fuck? Somebody is hacking at it with a damn sword!
Declan paused on pulling the trigger as the demon's assailant appeared in view. A woman, wearing what looked like a bulky leotard, attacked a seven-foot-tall, yellow skinned, over muscled and long clawed ring two demon with some sort of sword. She even pushed it backward.
Chapter 27 - Late to the Party
The drive to MIT passed like a surreal nightmare for Kayter. The invisible clock was ticking down in her head and she had to stop to get food, to hit the bathrooms, to stretch. Showing up at a battle tired, hungry, and having to pee would be a recipe for disaster, and that usually got you killed. So, she ate, drank liquids and about thirty minutes out she stopped and did a full stretch as fast as she could. She didn't know what she would walk into and being stiff would not be smart.
She felt the portal pulling at her as she drove up. She parked the bike deep in the trees and let the eddies of magic pull her toward it.
I'll never understand how other people can't feel this but most are acting like nothing is going on.
A quick backward glance showed students still milling about, though a few seemed edgy. She stepped through the trees which did an excellent job of completely hiding the small quad from the rest of the area. The glow of the portal snagged her attention as soon as she cleared the trees.
Fuck. Really? Already fully set up? Argh.
Kayter tried to locate the mages. Someone had to be holding the portal open, even as guilt lashed at her. Should she have driven faster, skipped the breaks, gone hungry? Each thought ratcheted her stress and guilt up. How many people would die because she wasn't good enough?
Her sword in her hand, she started to run as she saw a demon coming through the portal. A ring one as far as she could tell. She needed to kill it now. If she let too many get through she wouldn't be able to take them all. One on one, even two on one, she'd normally win, as long as they were lower ring demons.
Gods help us all if a ring four comes through.
Running toward the emerging demon she caught a flicker of motion, a tail disappearing down an interconnected walkway to another building.
Fuck, more already. Kill this one, then go after the other. Where the hell is the mage?
A bad feeling flickered through her, making her gut clench, but she didn't waste time on it. Instead, she lashed out with her jian, moving faster than an Olympic athlete, cutting and slicing. The jian had two sharp edges and a point. It was one of the few swords good for both stabbing and slashing. The custom jian had a razor edge and she'd practiced with it for so long it moved as if a part of her body. Something about the sword not being made of normal metal, it cut through t
he demons’ flesh easier than anything else she'd ever tried. She knew her life depended on this odd weapon, so she took very good care of it.
This specific demon had the more insect-like build, with multiple legs and arms, so aiming for a head strike would be useless. This would she'd have to dismember and deal with killing it later. Kayter darted in, her speed making the demon's attacks seem slow. Aiming for the shoulder she slashed down and removed the first arm like trimming branches off a sapling.
The demon let loose a screech that cut through her brain and she flinched, almost losing her own arm as it lashed out with the other three arms. Each arm ended in four long serrated claws and all of them came at her face.
Kayter dropped to the ground, rolled, and came up with an underhanded strike and severed one of the two legs at the hip connection. The thing, gushing greyish red blood, toppled over and she moved in, slicing fast and hard. It felt good to use her skills; it had been a while since she had to stretch herself. It took less than forty-five seconds before the demon lay there screaming, its limbs all separated.
Another quick look around and she still couldn't find the damn mage. With an internal growl, she took off after the demon she'd seen going into the walkway. Running full speed, she almost slammed into it as it turned a corner and headed back her direction. Trying not to fall over, her adrenaline pumping and the knowledge that the portal kept emitting its siren song on the other side, made her reckless not to mention that she figured her chances of living through this were low. So all her being was focused on the now, which made her reckless, slap-happy, and deadly as hell.
This demon followed the humanoid lines, though it had a lizard-like tail which gave it incredible balance. But that meant head detachment for a sure kill. With that in mind she went at it, using jabbing strikes to push it back as it tried to figure out how to attack her. She made damn sure she didn't leave any openings.
Movement to the side caught her eye and she glanced that way as the demon ducked one of her slashes. Two men, eyes wide and jaws open stood in a doorway watching her. She dismissed them, concentrating on the demon. Ducking under a swing of long claws, she came up for a strike, only to miss as the demons' head exploded.
Kayter recovered her balance, then looked back at the two men. What she had dismissed as spectators were obviously demon hunters. She glanced back at the courtyard and saw another demon starting to come through.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stay cool. You know what you're doing. Deal with them and either find out if they know anything or get them out of here.
With that final thoughte and trying to act like she didn't think she'd die today, she backed up towards them, still checking the portal in the courtyard.
Chapter 28 - Post Mortem
"Greg, watch out for the civilian!"
"Got it." Greg took a breath and held it in as he caressed the AR-10 trigger lightly, sending a single shot through the head of the demon which caused the woman to halt mid-swing as it collapsed at her feet. After a split second of confusion, the woman glanced towards the doorway and noticed the two new arrivals. She turned her back to them, facing out towards the courtyard, and backed up quickly through the door and into the entryway joining Declan and Greg.
This is now a total shit show.
Declan watched the young leotard wearing - okay maybe she had leather body armor on with boots, but still, it looked like a leotard it fit her so closely - sword-bearing, pony-tailed young woman back into the relative safety of the entryway. He watched her slow, then control, her breathing as she kept her eyes on the broken doors leading into the courtyard in front of her. Her unusual outfit was splattered with a fair amount of yellow blood, with her sword dripping some of the fluid onto the floor beneath her.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I don't mean to be rude, but you need you to leave as quickly as possible. My friend and I have some serious work to take care of right now. This is no place for a sword-wielding college student." Declan shouted at the back of the new arrival.
The woman spun quickly towards Declan with her sword pointing at his chest and a strange grimace on her face, "I don't think you understand what's going on here old-timers, you two wannabe Rambos are out of your league and should just move along. I got a problem I need to figure out. Plus, I still don't know where the damn mages are." she said, then paled, her eyes wide locked on Declan.
"I've… I've dreamed about you." The words stumbled out of her mouth, and from the look on her face, she hadn't meant to speak them.
Greg continued to watch the courtyard in front of them trying to angle his head to see further into it but his view was blocked. He glanced to the left and right at the hallways and what appeared to be stairwell doors to the sides of the entryway in rapid succession, his entire body coiled tight. "Hey there, lady, don't worry. We're professionals. Kind of. Looks like you got lucky up there, but we have an old saying never bring a sword to a gunfight."
The woman caught her bearings and a half smile crept back onto her face as she laughed. Standing up as tall as she could, "I don't run out of ammo, or let everyone in the world know where I am though." She replied with what Declan recognized as bravado.
Never taking his eyes off the field of fire in front of him, Greg responded "Maybe, but I do believe I have two kills to my credit already and I'm not covered in nasty shit. Hey, DK, look. The millennials all still appear to think that dry cleaning is free or something."
Not letting the verbal challenge go unmet, the strange woman snapped back. "Some of us have enough intelligence to not want to advertise our presence to everyone in the world. Any time you want to see who's the better hunter, let me know. But for now, we need to deal with the fucking portal." She shifted back and forth on her feet like a hyped-up junkie and glanced at DK. "And talk to the guy haunting the dreams about my dad."
"DK, where did you get this Ritalin addict?"
Trying to get his bearings on the changed situation, DK responded. "I swear I've never met her."
"Uh, huh. Then why is Xenia the Warrior Princess here dreaming about you?"
"Seriously? Can you two shut the fuck up for a second so I can think?" Declan snapped back harshly.
"Whatever, you cradle robbing freak." Greg barely controlled his laughter.
Declan turned to look directly at Greg, "Can we just get back to killing demons? Damn it, this is not going as planned at all."
"I don't know, maybe you should ask your little protege if that's okay first, DK."
"I told you... Shit, where did she go?" Declan noticed that the young lady was no longer standing next to them and had moved towards the edge of the building trying to peak around the corner to get a look into the courtyard.
Quickly, glancing back over her shoulder, she commented. "I'm doing my job killing demons unlike you two comedians sitting there talking. Have fun when they come in there to get you. Me? I'm gonna be over here clearing a path through those three demons, as I just figured out where the damn mages are. They pulled them to the other side of the portal to keep them safe, or at least prevent us from killing them. So now, not only do I have four demons but some stupid fucking mages to deal with. Are you going to do anything or just stand there?"
"Fuck. Alright Greg, ready?" Declan said as he quickly released his magazine from his carbine and replaced it with a fresh one, slapping it into place.
"You know it, brother. Time to get to work." Greg said just as the crazy woman took two steps back and swung her sword barely deflecting a long talon strike of the lumbering demon that had rushed at her from her blindside, pushing her off balance. She ducked and weaved in between the demon's continued attacks, cutting at them with the blade. It glided through the demon’s flesh and muscle like butter. Declan had never seen anything like it and kept getting distracted, not by her ass but by that blade.
Who the fuck was she? And why the hell would she be dreaming about me?
The young lady strongly parried the demon's arm with her sword spinning and thrusting. It cleanly between i
ts armored chest plate and neck, partially severing it with a fatal attack.
She's got moves, I'll give her that.
She turned with an insane grin on her face towards Greg and Declan, still laughing. "You two old dudes going to get your asses in gear? That portal isn't going to collapse by itself."
With her back turned to the courtyard, she couldn't see the small mass of demons spilling through the portal, growling at the mages. The mix of ring one guard dogs and a spattering of ring twos had started to gather into a cluster that would attack as one wall of tightly packed claws and teeth.
"Get your ass back here right now, move it. You got a really good way to die going on. Get the fuck over here right now!" Declan yelled at her in his old army ‘command voice'. It was a voice that demanded attention.
The lady didn't blink, but apparently realized that she had lost focus. She didn't look back but sprinted to the entryway as ordered.
Just like a damn newbie. Reckless as shit, but at least she knows how to listen occasionally.
Declan let the random thought rattle in his skull as a plan took shape in his head.
"Why? You two finally done playing with your dicks?" she snapped back, but her face stayed serious as she looked back at the portal when she reached them.
"Enough bullshit. Time to shed blood." Declan let his mind slip into acceptance of the coming battle. He felt it tap into is core and start consuming his own inner self to feed and enhance his senses. No, worries. A hit of Reset later and I'll be right as rain.
"Hey, Greg, watch that left hallway. I got a twitch." Declan motioned past Greg.
The rushing noise of scraping claws on tiles from at least two demons could now be heard approaching from the hallway on the left. "I'll take these," she yelled as she ran into the hallway alone. Without a moment's hesitation, the young lady turned and ran in front of Greg. The action blocked his field of fire and forced him to lift his weapon upwards to avoid hitting her as she barreled into the hallway sword in hand.
