The Third Sin

by Tamara Geraeds

  I cock my head. “Maybe you’re right, but there were other beings with us just now. Craig the crab man could’ve opened a portal to another world or dimension or whatever.”

  “I don’t think so. Vicky was keeping him busy.”

  My shoulders sag. “I hope she’s okay.”

  The old ghost slaps my back hard. “Of course she is. She’s one of the toughest girls I’ve ever known. And she has help.”

  I sigh as I realize Vicky is probably safer than we are. We’re in a strange world, without back-up.

  “Okay, what do we do now?”

  “Try to find a way back?” D’Maeo offers.

  I grin. “Obviously, but I meant how do we do that.”

  “Well…” He looks around with his hand above his eyes. “We could wander around in the smoldering heat, or we could call Qaddisin and ask him to get us out of here.”

  My feet are starting to feel like they’re on fire and I bury them deeper into the sand. “I like that second plan.” I look up at the sky and call out. “Quinn! Can you help us?”

  A chorus of exited howls greets us and in the distance the sand is disturbed.

  I free my feet and take a couple of steps back. “Any time now, Quinn.”

  I repeat his name in my head over and over, but still there’s no sign of him.

  D’Maeo pulls at my arm. “We’d better get out of here. I don’t think Quinn can hear us here. We’ll have to come up with another plan.”

  I gulp when my gaze locks on the shapes coming our way. They have the same heads and upper bodies as the sand demons we fought before, but instead of tentacles, they have the lower bodies and legs of a cheetah. Their long tails stick up straight, the sharp tips pointed at us like a scorpion’s, ready to strike.

  I copy D’Maeo’s reluctant expression. “Running is probably our best option right now.”

  “Agreed.”

  We turn and make our way through the hot sand. The red sun burns into the back of my head. Sweat drips down every part of my body.

  After five steps, D’Maeo is already way ahead of me. Every move I make is obstructed by golden grains. No matter how hard I try, I can’t go faster.

  When I look back, the lizard-cheetah demons have covered half the distance between us.

  Abruptly, I come to a halt.

  “What are you doing?” D’Maeo shouts.

  Steadying my breathing, I reach for my Morningstar and nudge the buzz near my heart.

  The demons lift their heads and howl. There’s three of them and they are slowly moving away from each other, undoubtedly to box us in. Sand rises from the ground around their feet like puffs of smoke.

  “What are you doing?” D’Maeo repeats from right beside me.

  “We can’t outrun them. So I thought it would be better to save my energy for the fight.”

  The old ghost pulls out his sword. “We’d better think of a strategy quickly then.”

  I weigh my weapon in my hand. “Can you hold one of them off?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Good. I’ll hit another one with my Morningstar and try to fry the third with a bolt of lightning.”

  From the corner of my eye I see him frown. “You can do that at the same time?”

  My power slowly spreads through my body. I wink at D’Maeo. “I hope so.”

  He grips his sword tighter. “Sounds like a faulty plan to me.”

  “Well, do you have a better one?”

  His eyes lock on the demon approaching him from the left. “Maybe.”

  There’s no time to talk things through. From about half a mile away, the monsters jump as one.

  Without hesitation I fling my Morningstar. I don’t wait to see if it hits its target, but focus on summoning a bolt. As soon as the light leaves my hand, I turn my attention back on my other weapon. The spiked ball at the end of my foldable Morningstar has punctured the neck of the demon on my right. It is down, but its tail is swaying in all directions. It almost pierces my arm and I jump sideways to avoid it.

  A loud hiss right next to my left ear makes the hairs in my neck stand up. I try to back away, but a tail hits the ground behind me, scraping my back and keeping me in place.

  Carefully I send power back to my hand. I’ll have to move fast, or this demon will take my head off or impale me with its tail. A tiny, hesitant spark dances in my palm. My heart beats so loud that it almost drowns out the hissing in my ear.

  The monster’s tongue shoots out of its mouth and hits my forehead. Although I try not to, I shiver.

  It moves even closer, the heat of its body prickles my skin.

  I have to distract it somehow, so I can surprise it with a sudden attack. If it sees the light in my hand, I’ll be lost.

  But when I lift my head, I know it’s too late. While the tail pushes me forward, the demon opens its mouth full of shark teeth.

  My hand shoots up, releasing the energy within. But there’s no more than a sad sparkle there. It bounces harmlessly of the leathery skin.

  As a last resort, I push the button on the stick of my Morningstar. I wait for the ball to return, but it doesn’t. It must be jammed too tightly into the other demon’s body.

  My heart beat quickens, while sweat blocks part of my vision. This is it. The last second of my life has come. I will not see Mom again. Or Vicky. I will never play poker with my friends again, or eat nachos. The prophecy won’t come true. I can’t defeat the Devil. I can’t even defeat two demons from the seventh circle of Hell.

  I knew it. I was never meant to save the world. I am not as strong as they think.

  With a sigh I close my eyes. If you can hear me, tell everyone I’m sorry, Quinn. I tried.

  CHAPTER 31

  A rush of air hits my face and I grit my teeth, preparing myself for the excruciating pain of getting eaten alive.

  The pressure on my back recedes. Hot sand burns my feet and ankles.

  When an angry growl splits the air, I open my eyes.

  I am no longer trapped between the head and the tail of the demon. Instead, I am standing next to D’Maeo, several feet away from the monster. It is dripping sand that ignites as soon as it hits the ground. My Morningstar lays in the sand next to it. There’s no trace of the other two demons. They must have evaporated already.

  “How did I get here?” I whisper.

  “I apparated.”

  My mouth falls open a bit. “You can take me with you when you disappear?”

  “Looks like it.” His eyes never leave the lizard that’s swaying from left to right.

  We step back when the fire reaches us and I quickly kick sand over it.

  “What is it doing?”

  “Probably trying to confuse us, before it leaps.” Smoke curls up as he follows my example and more flames are extinguished. “How’s your energy level?”

  I concentrate on the buzz inside me. “It’s fine.”

  “Good.” He places his feet firmer into the sand. “On three I’ll yell and charge. As soon as I do, you hit it with as many bolts as you can.”

  “Good plan. I’ll pretend to cower behind you.”

  While he counts quietly, I take a small step back and pull in my head as if I’m really scared. Meanwhile, I hold my hands behind my back and summon two bolts. As D’Maeo reaches two I get the idea of trying to freeze the bolts. I think of ice really hard and send my thoughts to my hands.

  On three, I sway my arms forward. At the same moment the demon leaps. The bolts hit it square in the face and break into a thousand pieces.

  It worked! I froze the bolts!

  There’s no time to celebrate. Not yet. The demon is down, but not defeated. It claws at its eyes, where blood trickles out of several gashes.

  D’Maeo turns around to face me. “Nice work. How did you do that?”

  “I froze the bolts.”

  “Good thinking.”

  We approach the screaming demon, D’Maeo with his sw
ord raised, me with two flickering hands.

  As I hit it in the chest, D’Maeo cuts off the tail that tries to impale me.

  Blood soaked sand sprays us and ignites on impact. I throw up my arm to protect my face. “Wow, watch out!”

  The demon bends its head to look at the holes in its chest. Its howl is cut short when it goes up in black smoke.

  “Sorry about that.” D’Maeo tosses a handful of sand over the smoking spots in my clothes. “There. How’s that?”

  I pat my limbs and wipe the sand off. “Better. Although I’m not too crazy about the holes.”

  D’Maeo smirks. “Don’t worry about that. You can tell people it’s a fashion statement.”

  “Sure.” I turn in all directions. “If only there were people here.”

  A chorus of cries sounds in the distance.

  D’Maeo starts walking in the opposite direction. “Be careful what you wish for.”

  I pick up my Morningstar and follow him. We walk in silence for a while, listening carefully for more demons or other creatures that could jump us. Our heads turn from left to right like security cameras and we take turns scanning the desert behind us.

  My head and feet are starting to hurt from the heat.

  “What if this desert never ends?” I finally ask. My voice is raw from the drought.

  “Every world has a way out. We just have to find it.”

  Suddenly my legs collapse and I fall onto my knees in the hot sand. I roll over to avoid getting burned.

  D’Maeo stares down at me. “What are you doing?”

  “I can’t go on, I need water.”

  He sighs as if I’m a spoiled child. “In order to find water, we’ll have to keep moving.”

  “Can’t you just apparate to a water source?”

  “Only if I know where it is.”

  That gives me an idea. I scramble upright. “Maybe you can apparate home and take me with you? Or if you can’t take me, you could go back to Darkwood Manor and open a portal to this world.”

  He scratches his beard. “I don’t think that’s possible, but it’s worth a try. Let me see if I can get there alone first.”

  “Wait!” I place my hand on his arm. “What if you can’t get back? I might be stuck here alone.”

  He licks his lips and bobs his head. “Okay, you’re right. Hold on to me.”

  I grab his arm with both hands and wait.

  With his eyes on the sky, the old ghost stands very still. Then, without warning, it feels like something yanks me off my feet. Everything around me goes dark and there’s a buzz in my ear. An invisible force pulls me up by the waist.

  Then, with a jolt I come to a halt. My hands slip from D’Maeo’s arm and gravity pulls me back down. I want to ask what’s going on, but within a second, I’m lying on my back in the sand, under the highly annoying red sun again.

  When I blink against the bright light, D’Maeo comes into view, falling from the sky.

  I gasp when his body splits into five versions of him, every new one vaguer than the last. While the first three follow the original, the fourth copy is pulled back up by a dark shape that appears out of nowhere. It blocks the sun for a second and the sight of it makes my skin itch. My mouth goes even drier when it vanishes into the light, taking the pale copy of D’Maeo with it.

  As the old ghost drops down next to me, the other three versions of him are sucked back into his body one by one, making him clearer and clearer.

  I turn onto my side and shake him. “Are you okay?”

  When he doesn’t open his eyes, a ton of bricks lands in my stomach. Oh no, I killed him. I killed the leader of my Shield.

  Wiping the sand off his face, I whisper softly. “Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.”

  Just when I consider hauling him over my shoulder and walking until I find a way out, he stirs.

  With gritted teeth, he pushes himself up into a sitting position. “I was dead to begin with, Dante.”

  He coughs and touches his head. “I’m a bit dizzy. That’s not a good sign.” Slowly he turns his tired gaze on me. “What happened?”

  Tears of panic still burn in my eyes. “Your body split. It was like parts of you were pulled out, or…” I search for words. “Or like your soul was separated by something.”

  He looks down at his body and lets out a heavy sigh. “Did something dark and sinister take it?”

  My mouth falls open. “Well… It was… I mean… Yes, there was a… a dark shape.” I shake my head to get my thoughts in order. “You know what it was?”

  “Not really, but I’ve seen it before. It’s the thing that killed me. It’s been trying to rip my soul apart ever since. So far with limited success.”

  “And now it got another piece because of me! Dammit!” I hit the sand as hard as I can. It doesn’t relieve me one bit, because it only creates a soft hole. What I need is something solid to punch. Like a demon.

  Hauling myself back onto my feet, I scream as loud as I can. With clenched fists I wait for an answer, but everything stays quiet.

  D’Maeo stands up with a groan and searches the endless mass of sand with me. “That dark thing probably scared every other monster away.”

  A tear escapes my eye. “I’m so sorry, D’Maeo. If I’d known…”

  “It’s fine, son. You couldn’t have known. I probably should’ve told you about that thing sooner, in case it ever attacked.” He shakes the sand out of his hair. “Not that I have any idea how to fight it.”

  “We can search the pentaweb when we get back. Once we know what it is, we can find out how to defeat it and get the rest of your soul back.”

  D’Maeo starts walking again. “No need to rush. There are more important things to take care of first. The black void, as I call it, seems to have difficulties reaching me. It only attacks when something disturbs my usual state, so to speak.”

  When I frown, he explains, “Like just now, when I tried to leave. Obviously there’s no way to apparate out of this world, this circle of Hell. Which makes sense, because otherwise all the dead here would go back to Earth. So when I hit the barrier, my state of being was disrupted for a second. That’s when the black void grabbed it’s opportunity.”

  I take out my Morningstar and swing it as hard as I can. It lands in the sand with a thud and I press the button to reel it in. As soon as it clicks back in place, I swing it again.

  While we walk on, D’Maeo watches silently as I launch my weapon with all my force again and again. Although there’s no one to attack, it makes me feel better.

  CHAPTER 32

  “So,” I say after a while. “What happened that day?”

  He seems to understand what I mean, because he starts talking immediately.

  “I was on a job, investigating a case.” He pauses for a second. “Did I tell you what I used to do?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I was a magiporter.”

  “A what?”

  “A magical transporter. I delivered magical goods.”

  That was not the answer I was expecting. “Illegal goods?”

  “No, but they were often dangerous and they needed an expert to make sure nothing happened on the way, and to ensure that no non-magics saw it.”

  “So you were sort of undercover?” I gesture at his neat black suit. “Is that why you dressed like this?”

  “Yes, and because a good look enforces respect. There was also a hat, but I lost it when the trains collided.”

  “Did you see it coming? Were you close to them when it happened?”

  “Very close. Hang on, I’ll show you.” He stands still and places a hand on my arm.

  I take a quick look around to make sure we’re still alone.

  “Don’t worry,” the old ghost says. “I’ll keep watch and pull you out when something approaches. Just relax.”

  It’s hard to let my guard down, but there’s already a flash and everything a
round me changes.

  After swallowing the nausea hitting me, I blink until the world becomes clear again.

  I’m standing next to D’Maeo, who looks almost exactly like he does in my time, only less pale and more solid. A black hat with a soft brim and indented crown, like the one Indiana Jones wears, is placed loosely on his head. His right hand rests on a large leather suitcase. Dark lines run along the light brown fabric, as if something scratched it. There’s also a blotch of red next to the lock.

  The gray-haired man doesn’t see me, as nobody here does.

  For a moment, all the colorful people around me draw my attention. There are psychedelic patterns and patchwork motifs everywhere, covering the travelers waiting for the train. The women are dressed in long, straight-cut pants and bright skirts and the men wear tunics and capes.

  I feel like Marty McFly, arriving in another time and place. Too bad I’m about to witness a train accident.

  As if on cue, there’s a loud screech behind me. Everyone turns at the same time and freezes.

  Further along the railway four wagons are pushed off the tracks. From three of them shouts of fear rise up and people around me clasp their hands over their mouths in shock.

  D’Maeo glances at the suitcase next to him. He hesitates for only a second. Then he picks up his baggage and runs towards the wreckage. A couple of people, including me, follow him.

  Before we reach the scene, two carriages slide down the steep embankments on the side of the rail bed. Frightened faces smash against the windows and people reach out to us through broken glass.

  I wish I could apparate, so I could get everyone out of there. Total chaos erupts around me as people climb down after the wagons, while passengers try to make their way out of another car that has come to a halt beside the railroad.

  D’Maeo is the only one who runs straight past all of them, to the second train.

  My mouth falls open when I see the shape the locomotive is in. The metal has been bent in impossible ways, making it look more like a giant accordion than a train. Smoke billows up and loose parts of metal screech as they sway from left to right. I’m guessing that whoever was in there, is no longer alive.