by Keller, Tom
"I've been better," I yelled, my ears still ringing. "Did it work?" I didn’t hear his response. I bent over and placed my hands on my head, willing the magic to heal it. A moment later, the ringing was still present, but not as loud. "Did it work?" I asked again.
"He won’t be getting up again," I heard McDaniel say. It sounded miles away, but at least I could hear his voice. "You look like shit."
"Thanks," I replied as he pulled me up. "That's about how I feel." I looked over to where I'd been standing, not far from the altar that had been blown aside like paper; the lamb and grate, lying in the dirt down the way. "Oh, and I think I burned the lamb, too." Looking down, I saw that my side had been burned as well, and the cut from the bladed spear still bled. "What about Martin and Charlie? They were pretty close too."
"Charlie just left. He went to check on the others after he saw that you were alive. The Pack Master's a little singed," McDaniel said. "He's being tended to. Your Faery already took him back. Charlie wasn't even scratched. He's the one that pulled Martin out of the way. Oh, and Browne will be here in a minute. They want to take custody of the body... for research."
"They can have it," I replied, wiping my face and running my fingers through hair. Damn, singed too. It's a good thing I was Fae. I'd never be able to explain the burned eyebrows to anyone at the office. "Show it to me."
I followed McDaniel to what was left of the Demon. There was one more thing I wanted to do before the others got here. Looking over the creature, I saw that its head had been crushed, and the rest of it looked like it'd been through a shredder. Except for its size and still quivering tail, it was barely recognizable. McDaniel's weapon had worked as advertised. This was one Demon that wasn't going to be a problem anymore. Still, I needed to make sure.
In addition to power in magic, there are other things that were different between a High Fae and the others. One was the ability to know and control their subjects. The old Gods had used that to their advantage; influencing their followers to fight for them, as well as tricking them into other things. But there was also the ability to search into someone's life, even their entire line using their blood. As in humans, blood was life. But in Fae, blood was also magic. The Demon might be dead, but it would take a few minutes for the magic to fade away.
I knelt and readied myself, then reached down and placed my hand in some of the Demon's blood. Everything slowed down, and then it began. Images flooded in. I'd once thought of them as scenes from a movie. But that wasn't exactly correct. It was more like you were in the movie itself. Scenes flashed and I saw through the Demon's eyes. Being pulled out of darkness and killing the Mage that had summoned it. Scattered scenes from the battle. I went backward in time. There was a nothingness that seemed to last forever. Then a different world, faint, but recognizable. Others of its kind were there.
I tried to focus, going back through the blackness and up to the moment it appeared in my time. There was a brief glimpse of something opening; some kind of gateway, when it was summoned. Some force of magic had created a hole and allowed it to escape from Hell. There was a glimpse of something else. Clouds and something glowing. Then it was gone as the images began to fade. The last of the magic in its blood slipping away to nothingness as whatever life force the demon left behind finally drifted away. I shuddered, and stood back up to face McDaniel.
"Any idea how many we lost?" I asked, turning away from what was left of the creature. I was still weak from the concussion of the blast. "All I saw was the Were it grabbed and another it knocked aside, plus the two archers that went down."
"The Were that got stung is dead. Whatever's in that tail is nasty stuff. I saw your two archers, but I couldn’t tell you how bad they are. Your Faerie got both of them out of here though. Hopefully that's a good sign. The other Were got up, limping but alive. I didn’t see where it went. I had to keep my eyes on the Demon. But all in all, it could have been worse."
"That it could," I agreed.
A moment later, Charlie returned.
"The injured have been taken to the house," he said. "The other Weres wish to claim their dead pack member's body."
"That's not going to happen," Browne said, walking up behind me. "At least not yet. We were watching it all go down. That thing had some kind of poison in its tail. It'll have to be analyzed before the body can be released to them."
"You're right, but they're not going to like it," I said, turning to face him.
"We've dealt with this before," he replied. "I've got someone heading their way to talk to them. One of their own kind. He can explain it to them." Browne walked over to the dead Demon and circled it before turning back to me. "As per our agreement, we'll take over the scene from here. I understand you have your own med team. Is there anything else you need before we begin?"
"No," I replied. "It's all yours. What about you? You want an after action report?"
"Won’t be necessary" he said. "We've got it on video. Although we will want to meet in a few days to discuss anything ese we find, as we also agreed on. You know, I wasn't happy with your decision to talk to it first, but maybe you were right. At the very least, we now know it was intelligent."
"Lot of good it did," I replied.
"Yeah, well," he said. "I never said it was smart. The two aren’t necessarily the same." He turned to talk to one of the other agents that had come with him before continuing." Now get out of here, Hoskins. Go get your wounds tended to. Fae Lord or not, you're bleeding all over my scene."
Looking down, I saw that he was right. What the hell? The damn thing should have closed up by now. I put out a call to Sendy, who appeared almost immediately. A moment later I was back in my kitchen. Then she was gone again; on her way to fetch Charlie. I started the coffee and leaned against the counter to wait.
Chapter 10
"My Lord!" Askel, the Fae healer said as she walked into the kitchen. "You are wounded."
"It's just a scratch," I replied as I filled my cup.
There was a faint pop as Sendy and Charlie appeared.
"Nevertheless, you are bleeding all over your kitchen," the healer replied, taking my arm. "Fae Lord or not, you are making a mess."
Even with the healing power of a High Fae, some things still needed attention. I could shut out the pain, so it was easy to forget the wound was there. But even though I could heal a lot faster than the others, it still never hurt to have something like that looked at. Especially since I hadn’t expected it to still be bleeding. Maybe the poison I had encountered had done something; or perhaps it was the blade. My wounds usually heal a lot faster than this, so unless the blade had been poisoned, this one should have been further along.
"Point taken," I said as I looked at the cut. I hadn’t thought it was that bad, but I let her lead me into the bedroom anyway.
The room was already full. Martin and the other Wolf were back in human form; both having their wounds attended to by Jen. The left side of Martin's face was red and he'd lost a bit of hair. Other than that, he looked no worse for wear. The other Were was being bandaged up, but appeared to be in good spirits, despite the occasional wince as she rolled the bandage across his ribs. One of the Fae archers was on the bed, naked from the waist up. His side had been cut into by the spear. Leaves and some sort of green paste covered the wound.
"Oh," Jen said as she glanced up. "Sorry, didn’t recognize you there for a minute."
"How is he?" I asked Askel. She must not have heard. She just poured some of the green paste over my cut and then placed her hands over the wound, muttering a healing spell of some kind. I felt the pain go away as the bleeding stopped and the cut began to heal.
"Do not move," Askel said to the Were when she went over to him. She pressed hard on his ribs. "Give me a moment." When she was satisfied, she let go before turning back to me. "You can again switch to your other form if needed. You will heal."
"What about him?" I asked, pointing to the Fae on the bed after I switched back to my human persona.
> "Ellgar will live," she replied. "He does not heal as quickly as you. I put him to sleep. He should be awake and able to move in the morning. Antiopeia was merely stunned. She has already returned to Fae."
"How about you two?" I asked, turning to Martin.
"I feel about the same way you look," Martin said, his singed hair and eyebrows covered in the green paste that Askel had used on me. "Randy here is the least injured, except for his pride."
"... and a rib or two," he said with a smile. "Damn thing was fast."
"Sorry about the other Were," I said. "Browne said he had to take the body, but he'll return it when they're done."
"I heard," he replied. "I will deal with his people tomorrow. Seffria was a good pack mate and will be missed. I will make sure her name goes in the rolls of honor for her sacrifice. It is small comfort, but the pack has been avenged."
Small comfort, indeed. "Did she have family?"
"Just us," Martin said. "We will honor her in our own way."
"Okay," I replied. There was nothing else I could say. "I'm going to go clean up. There's coffee if anybody wants some. You going to be here when I get back down?"
"No. As soon as the healers release us, we have pack business that must be dealt with," Martin replied. "But I will call you soon."
"I understand," I said. "Let me know if you need anything."
Sendy let me know that she was bringing in the other Fae. They would return home the same way they got here. I threw on a shirt and thanked them individually for their service, assuring them that Askel had seen to their companion's healing. Each one spent a moment at his side, then returned to Fae via the oak tree in the yard. I thanked Sendy for her assistance, asking her to let Nikki know what had happened tonight. After that, she was free to go home to Malcolm. Soon after, I was in the shower, the hot water washing the blood away.
What had she done? I asked myself as I slid down to the shower floor and let the hot water run over me. I'd thought I was finished with her when we took out what appeared to be the last of her minions in the earlier raid. I knew she would to escape from Tartarus eventually. I just thought I'd have a little more time before I had to deal with more of her crap. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
The Wizard who freed the Demon had been corrupted by her as well. She'd been busy. Spreading cancer cells that just waited for an opportunity to strike. I wondered how many others were out there, and if any of them knew about each other.
What really concerned me at the moment was what I thought this one had done. He hadn’t just summoned a Demon... or four. The more I thought about it, it seemed like he'd also shattered something in Hell by doing so. But what? There hadn’t been enough time to search for details when I'd examined his blood. Was it something local to the Hell this Demon had resided in? Or was it something else? And just where in the multitude of Hells had it come from? Shit! This was not good. Had we solved the problem, or was it just the beginning?
"You ok in there?" Jen asked as she knocked on the shower door.
"Yeah, fine," I answered, pushing myself back up. Grabbing a towel, I opened the door. "Everything ok?"
"Charlie said I should come up and check on you," she said. "You've been up here quite a while."
"Sorry. Must have lost track of time. Anybody left down there?"
"Just your Fae archer and Askel. She really knows her stuff."
"She's one of the best," I agreed. "So what's next?"
"Martin needs me for a few things," she replied. "I've got to head out and meet him."
"Okay," I said. "I appreciate your help tonight."
"No problem, not that you really needed me," she replied. "I can’t really compete with a Fae healer."
"I needed you," I said. "As did Martin. It could have been a lot worse. We were lucky so few were injured."
She didn't answer right away, instead she reached up and kissed me before walking toward the door. She stopped at the doorway and smiled. "I'm glad you're okay... and thanks," she said.
****
"She's pretty," Askel said when I came back into the kitchen a little while later. She was at the table drinking water out of a glass bottle.
"Not you too," I replied, grabbing a Star Trek mug with Captain Picard's picture on it. "You've been talking to Charlie I see."
"I do not need the Fae hound to tell me what is obvious," she said, putting the bottle down and walking over to me. "Let me see your wound."
I lifted my shirt and she placed her hands on it.
"And what is this?" she asked, pointing to the barest hint of a white scar where the Gallu Demon had sliced me open and poisoned me with its tail.
"Don’t know what you are talking about," I replied, filling my cup.
"Your Were is skilled," Askel said. "Yet why do my Lord's wounds heal so slowly and his scars not fade? You cannot hide such injuries from me. Did the Demon cause this?"
"The wound, yes. I don’t know why the scar isn't disappearing," I replied, taking a drink from my cup. "Maybe..."
"Tell me what happened."
I told her the story of my first encounter with the Demon, and how it had not realized what I was until I revealed myself by using magic. I explained its use of the stinger on its tail, including how they had to remove the poison before my body began to heal itself. I also repeated its conversation tonight, how it said it had drunk the magic of thousands. Then I explained to her what we'd found out about the Succubus-like Demons. How they seemed to be attracted to magic as a life force. I also asked for her confidence, explaining my fears if any sign of weakness got out.
"I have never heard of such a thing," Askel said when I was done. "A pity there is none of the poison left. Perhaps a sample can be procured from the others. It would beneficial to know what this creature carries, should another be encountered. You say the other Demons sought out magic. Perhaps this one does the same; taking it from those around it, even as it stalks them for more. As to privacy, I am a healer. In that regard, we have the same thoughts as all healers. You need not fear your secret will be learned from me. Now, is there anything else? Something that would indicate that these Demons alone are not responsible?"
Aw, shit. What do I tell her? Actually there wasn't much, just a few bouts of dizziness here and there. But I was afraid I knew what was causing them. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound.
"I felt weak a couple of times before all this," I said, "But only after expending a lot of magic. That's never happened before, not until after..."
"After what?" she asked.
"After I told Nikki and Jay," I said. "And after I used my magic to awaken theirs."
"Then perhaps that is all it is," Askel said.
"All what is?"
"Magic is not infinite." she said. "A transfer of such power has a cost, as does any use of magic, even the smallest. You cannot give up so much of yourself without consequence."
"That makes sense," I replied.
"Let us hope it is only temporary," she continued. "But you must be cautious. Even at full strength you are not invincible. If more of these Demons are discovered, you are now aware of their powers, and can wait before revealing yourself."
"That much I already figured out," I said, thinking she sounded like Bernd, the Dwarf. He had always lectured me about being careful. "But thank you."
"It is my duty to my Lord," she replied. "I will say no more of this, unless you come to me for aid."
"I think I could use some rest," I said, refilling my cup. If there was one thing coffee didn’t do, it was disturb my sleep. "How's your patient doing? The other one, I mean."
"He is mending," she replied. "I will take him back after first light. It will be safe to wake him then."
"Do you need anything before I go up?" I didn’t need to ask any more. She'd spent enough time here patching up folks to know her way around.
"I will be fine," she answered. "Good night, my Lord."
"Good night, Askel," I replied, and headed back up
stairs.
Chapter 11
The place was empty when I got up in the morning. Even Charlie only came in for a minute, taking a few bites from his bowl before disappearing back out into the yard. The downstairs bedroom looked like it had never been used. Quite a feat considering it had resembled a portable MASH unit just a few hours ago. Well, never let it be said that the Fae didn’t clean up after themselves. Okay then, I thought as I started the coffee. Demon down. Now what do I do the rest of the week? Actually, that was a no-brainer. The world didn't stop turning when one problem was solved. There were plenty more to deal with. Especially since I had a nasty feeling that this was just the beginning.
I started with a few phone calls. One to confer with Jay about what had happened and to find out when he'd be in Vegas. I wanted to meet with him and Nikki to go over a few things face to face. I also asked him to pass a message on for me. I still needed to talk to an expert about what I'd seen in my vision of the Demon's Hell. Especially now that we knew that Marissa still had followers out there. Jay had agreed with my assessment that the point of it all had been to create a gateway out of Hell; with escape from Tartarus being the most likely plan all along, and the Demon's a terrible consequence. The question was, if the Wizard had created a gateway, was it still open? If so, could something else get out? Neither one of us had an answer. But Jay was going it pass it along, in case anyone else had an idea.
I called Siegfried. Everything was quiet at the Neptune. Michael was pissed that he hadn’t been able to play at Demon hunting, even though everything had been quiet on the property, but we both knew that it was probably just a matter of time before something else popped up. I told him to tell Michael I would make it up to him. That made him laugh. After a call to touch base with Martin, and one to O'Malley at the PD, I headed down to the office to see how the rest of my world was doing.
I parked in the back and walked to the front door. Hailey was already there, working her own kind of magic on the phone, when I went in. She held up her hand to indicate that she wanted to speak with me, then continued her conversation with whomever was on the other end.
