Heroes

by David Leadbeater

It struck me as good and proper and true. It asked the right question and assumed you wouldn’t be in hiding, running like a coward. It assumed you would stand; stand with your friends and the rest of the world. It assumed you would be counted among the heroes and that you would fight. You would stand out, you would be counted. And like the Chosen – you would battle until your last breath.

  Where would I be at the end of everything? I would be with my friends, trying to save their lives and the world. There was nowhere else to be.

  “It makes total sense,” Cheyne said. “There are more places in Death Valley named after the Devil or related to the Devil than anywhere else I know. You just know he’s been there before.”

  “I’ve never been to Death Valley,” Tanya Jordan said.

  “Nice place,” Cleaver said. “Hot. It’s about to get a whole lot hotter.”

  A terrible mix of elation, dread and anticipation filled the room. It didn’t get bigger than this.

  At least, I hoped it didn’t.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Giles and Cheyne made the calls. The army was already on standby, ready to deploy from dozens of places across the United States and Europe at short notice. The general plan had been to cover as wide an area as possible with well-equipped response forces. The only issue with that was that it made the forces less sizeable than we’d like. But compromises had to be made. Those army units close enough to Nevada would deploy immediately whilst those further away would join as soon as they arrived.

  But the Chosen needed to be in the vanguard.

  We took a fast jet and then a helicopter. There was time for preparation, talking and strategizing, but how could you properly plan something like this? The enemy had hundreds of creatures with special talents we’d never seen. Maybe thousands. We listened to the plan and we absorbed it, but all we could really do was make sure our various abilities were still with us. Cheyne pointed out that there were no gargoyles in Death Valley, so we’d be going in blind, but then the military helped out.

  They sent high-flying drones from Nellis Air Force base. The video they collected was relayed to us en route to Death Valley.

  I shuddered from my head to my toes. Never, never in all imagination, had we envisioned anything like the malicious horde that waited for us.

  It stretched from Badwater Basin to Furnace Creek, a distance of fifteen miles. It was bordered by the Panamint Mountains to one side and Death Valley’s higher peaks to the other. So thick was the horde that the white salt flats could hardly be seen. I recognized wayclearer demons in their thousands and dozens of those T-Rex things that had attacked our hotel back in Orlando. I saw flying demons and tall demons. But worst of all, I saw more humans than I could count, mingling among the demons, hooting and hollering and cavorting alongside every hell-beast conceivable. The drone was showing us what I could only describe as a scene from hell.

  “Why all the humans?” Cleaver asked.

  “It’s the same thing we saw in Miami, remember?” Cheyne replied. “The worst humans are drawn to this torment. Anyone from killers to organized crime accountants. Men and women with no conscience. No morals. No empathy.”

  “It’s Black Chapter and Emily Crowe’s doing,” Giles said. “When they summoned the hierarchy to this place they also called the worst people in the world to them. They’re nothing more than cannon fodder, like those wayclearer demons.”

  I took a deep breath as everyone started to make ready. We would coincide our attack with military assets from Nevada, Arizona and California. We would hit them with everything we had. The decisive battle was upon us.

  If we lost this, the earth would have a new resident – Lucifer himself.

  *

  Marian Cleaver would be part of the soldiers attacking the salt flats, where the beasts of hell stretched from Badwater to Furnace Creek. Alongside him were Cheyne, Tanya, Belinda, Jade and Amber. All badass fighters. Leah Aldridge was also there, though mostly for moral support. The supermodel was brave to be sure, but Cleaver hoped she didn’t decide to join the battle.

  He felt distant, out of his depth. This place was a long way from the boxing rings and gyms of Miami. It was a long way from working security for Clanger and trying to do good every day to make up for the worst mistakes of his past.

  Still, there were a thousand punch bags down there.

  Cleaver leaned over so he could get a better view from the helicopter’s window. They were coming in over the national park, passing over the incredible hue of rich colors that lay resplendent in Death Valley’s landscape – golds and crimsons, sunshine yellows and incredible mint-green rocks. The ground undulated as it fell lower and lower, until it reached 282 feet below sea level. Cleaver could feel the heat even from here, at this height.

  “It’s gonna be like fighting in an oven down there,” he said.

  Cheyne looked across. “He’s right. Pace yourselves. Don’t overexert if you don’t have to. Let the people with the power and the guns thin our enemy out.”

  The chopper swooped. Cleaver held onto a strap as his stomach hit the roof of his mouth. A rush of rope unravelling signified the moment when several rappel lines slithered out of their chopper. Looking across the skies, to both left and right, he saw dozens more army choppers following suit.

  They swept down to the expansive salt flat that was Badwater Basin, forty fully loaded army helicopters. Men started to jump onto the rappel lines. The helicopters dropped until the lines brushed the ground. Hundreds of faces looked up from below, all snarling, some demonic and some human. They were screaming and bellowing so hard Cleaver could hear them over the roar of the engine and the steady whump of the rotor blades.

  He braced himself. Nothing he had ever experienced could have prepared him for this moment. He was happy to be among such incredible warriors, those that could make all the difference.

  Jade and Amber were first out of the helicopter, the sisters distinctive with their green and amber tipped hair, the bravest of them all. Whilst they shimmied down Cleaver stepped up, grabbing the rope. As he jumped onto it, he chanced a look straight down.

  A horde waited below, snarling and reaching out with hands and tentacles, claws and sword-like appendages. He was dropping right into the jaws of viciousness and death. Along the line other choppers did likewise. Cleaver saw some of the demons actually climbing up the rappel lines, trying to reach the descending soldiers that bit sooner. Above him the rope tautened. Belinda came next, a look of firm resolve and long-suffering resignation on her face. Her bright blond hair and sparkling blue eyes belied the reconciled person deep inside. Cleaver knew her. He felt that way himself quite often.

  They dropped to their fates.

  Cleaver hit the salt flats hard. Jade and Amber had already cleared a small circle. Demons sprang at him, their hellish faces filling his vision. The heat beat at him as hard as any clenched fist. Cleaver leveled his shotgun and fired round after round. Something horned fell before him, its face blown apart. Something with scales and tusks was blown backward by the next blast, pinwheeling into four of its brethren and sending them sprawling. Belinda’s boots struck the white crystal surface at his back, boosting his confidence. She, Jade and Amber became an epic, battling trio, their fists and legs flying so fast the eye could barely keep track.

  Cleaver fired three more shots. A claw snagged his duster, jerking him off balance but its owner died under Belinda’s fast attack. Cleaver emptied his mag all around, loosing shot after shot until bodies piled up to left and right.

  Cheyne came next, her wild magic already stirring the air.

  Cleaver looked to the right as she unleashed a magic spell, one that sent every demon for twenty feet slamming head-first into the ground. Beyond their circle of battle, dozens and dozens of marines were landing, firing their weapons, clearing swathes of salt flats and taking apart the enemy. He saw black choppers lined up in rows, the force and noise of their rotor-blade wash a heavy, stentorian bellow. He saw endless rappel lines filled with tr
oops, traceries of bullets darting out in their thousands. He saw the whole of Badwater Basin full of demons, both small and large, some of them ranging up into the distant mountains.

  He saw more choppers coming.

  This would be a good day. A legendary day.

  Cleaver threw himself into battle.

  *

  I bounced along in one of the back seats of a military vehicle, driving up some of the lesser known roads of Death Valley National Park. We were headed up to Dante’s View, one of the higher peaks that overlooked the salt flats. It was where we’d seen Crowe and her protégé, Melissa, where members of Black Chapter were headed. We figured if we hit them with enough force, we might be able to take them out before the ceremony began.

  I had Giles, Lysette, Ceriden, Ethan and Natalie with me. I also had Lucy. Together we were mighty.

  The trouble was we weren’t together. Issues existed between me and the vampires, between Lucy and me, between Natalie and me. Lysette and Giles were closer than ever, their relationship having blossomed in adversity. Lysette and I were still close, although Lucy seemed to have shunned both of us.

  For now though, we were all business. Nothing that had ever happened in earth’s history carried more weight than the next few hours. If we lost this, we lost everything.

  The vehicles bounced up the last few twists and turns. To our right we saw dust and movement. We saw Emily Crowe surrounded by hierarchy demons, flying beasts and screaming humans. They were headed downward, no doubt trying to join up with the rest of Black Chapter.

  “Out, out!” Giles cried. “They must be stopped!”

  The vehicles ground to a halt. Doors flew open. Behind us, fifteen or more similar trucks pulled up, sending plumes of dust high into the sky. The call went out across every radio.

  “Take them down. Everything counts on this!”

  My boots hit dirt. I started running. Natalie and Lysette were at my side. I couldn’t imagine the kind of bravery Lysette was showing, since none of her powers were useful in combat. Alongside us came hundreds of soldiers; marines and commandos all tooled up to the hilt and wearing camo and Kevlar vests.

  Three hierarchy demons wheeled toward us. I steeled myself. This wasn’t going to go well. They were in the guise of flying demons for now, about twice the size of a human with wide, transparent wings and goat-like faces that sported beards, horns and blood-red eyes. They lifted off and came at us with talons outstretched.

  I unleashed all my gathered power, augmented by Natalie. A forceful blast struck them, sending them off the cliff face and out into the air, tumbling and screeching. Soldiers used the diversion to run straight for Emily Crowe.

  Giles was among them, near the front. Crowe and Melissa ran, seeking out and finding a narrow trail that led to the basin below. At that moment there was a beating of wings and a dozen flying demons flew up from below, appearing over the mountain edge as one, then banking straight toward us.

  Soldiers stopped, knelt and took aim. They nestled their guns into their shoulders and fired on full auto. Bullets ripped the flying demons to shreds, perforating their wings, their skulls and their bodies. Dead flesh rained to the ground, bouncing and skimming along in grotesque fashion, slamming among the troops like bowling balls. I fired a thin power charge at one of the beasts that had evaded the bullets, smashing it aside as it dived at the troops.

  All of a sudden, it was the Chosen, our guardians like Ceriden and Ethan clad in black cloaks, led by Giles, chasing after only Emily Crowe and Melissa.

  We were seconds away from grabbing them.

  And then the three hierarchy demons came back with a vengeance.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Cleaver spun, firing constantly, widening their warriors’ circle, clearing the area of snarling demons and vicious humans alike. The ground was sure and flat beneath his feet. Sweat ran in torrents down his face. His tongue felt like it was glued to the top of his mouth. Unrelenting heat beat at them.

  Cleaver ranged outward a little more as Tanya and Leah jumped down behind him. Tanya made an instant difference, taking on a dozen demons with a grace and lethal skill Cleaver would never have imagined. Leah carried two powerful handguns and fired without pause, her stance, presence and bravery already melting Cleaver’s heart.

  He focused, swopped mags, and fired into the oncoming bodies. They didn’t all fall before him and they didn’t all die. Some collided hard, making him stagger. Others crawled around his boots leaking blood. Jade and Amber handled most of the stragglers, using hands and fists and two curved blades encrusted with jewels. Tanya was with them, a thin stiletto blade in one hand, working so fast spatters of blood made shapes in the air as she cut down more and more.

  To right and left, gunfire resounded as the troops took down the massed demons.

  But it wasn’t all so easy. Cheyne spotted packs of flying fiends coming from the mountains to the west and called her coven to her. Cleaver saw the world’s most powerful thirteen witches conjuring up spell after spell. As the moments and minutes wore on the larger, slower creatures approached. A T-Rex monster was so close Cleaver felt the ground shake with every step it took. It ate its brethren as it stalked closer, massive jaws sweeping the crowd for every morsel it could get. Cleaver heard bodies being crushed under its mighty hind legs. And unfortunately for Cheyne, there was only one among them that could fight this beast.

  She squared up to it.

  Cleaver worried and rejoiced for her in the same breath. It was an epic standoff. Cheyne raised her hands as the beast stood over her, bellowing, its racks of teeth jutting out, its eyes as cold as death. It lunged for her. Cheyne swept her hands to the side and used magic to clout it across the jaw. It staggered, but came sweeping back, teeth just missing Cheyne’s skull. She struck again, sending thousands of tiny black particles at its hide. Some stuck, some bounced off, but the T-Rex staggered in agony.

  Cleaver was distracted again as three more horrific looking figures flew over the battle.

  Oh, shit. Now it gets real.

  Three hierarchy demons, in demonic form. Cheyne shouted out their names: “Belial, Baal, Asmodeus!” and sent a flock of conjured eagles darting among them, striking and battering them. The demons ducked and swooped and struck out. Cheyne conjured up a mini-tornado in the air and sent them tumbling.

  Then the T-Rex took all of her attention again.

  It shambled forward, now within touching distance. Cleaver let loose round after round and saw dozens of bullets penetrate its rough hide. Blood leaked. Cheyne and her coven smashed a hammer blow of invisible force up under its jaw, a blow so immense that it lifted the T-Rex off its feet and sent it crashing down onto its back.

  The impact rocked the salt flats. It knocked Cleaver and Cheyne and a hundred demons off their feet. Worst of all, it revealed another two T-Rexes lumbering up in its wake. The flying demons were back and swooping at the troops, their jaws snapping and rending, taking heads off shoulders as they swept along, biting limbs and bodies apart, lifting men into the air and then dropping them, sending them crashing among their colleagues.

  And now the hierarchy demons were back.

  Cleaver, Leah and five soldiers fired dozens of bullets point blank into the felled T-Rexes eyes and brain. It died with an awful sound. Cleaver looked up and saw countless other demons charging. They just didn’t have enough men.

  And we’re gonna need more bullets.

  Above, the choppers hovered. Their chain guns rattled. Shell after shell drove into the mass of demons, taking out the larger beasts and those that slithered and crawled. Explosive plumes of dust and salt crystal erupted from the basin floor, infusing the air with powder. A white sheen hung over the battle like mist. Flying demons attacked the choppers, smashing into the metal with fangs, claws and gristly back legs. They clung on, they threw the choppers to the ground; they flung them left and right. Men stood heroically on the skids of their helicopters, firing point blank at their adversaries, sometimes even jumping onto
their backs and plunging knives into their brains. It was a wild flurry of pure hell up there, the skies filled with blood, death and battle.

  Cleaver held their circle along with Jade and Amber whilst Cheyne and her coven fought the T-Rexes and the hierarchy demons. Leah had a fully automatic HK rifle by now and stood among the commandos, never flinching. Their black helicopter hung in the air above, lending its firepower to clearing the area around them. Other choppers came down among the troops who fought even harder but were now being driven back, their circles closing, their bodies littering the ground. Cleaver ground his teeth in frustration when Tanya, their best fighter, got tangled up among a whole host of wayclearer demons and was swept away. He couldn’t find a way to her, couldn’t help. She smashed and sliced them, using hands and feet and the thin blade. She threw them from side to side. She went under a stampede of them and then came up bloody, stooping, dragging herself back to the circle and then collapsing.

  Cleaver had no way of knowing how badly she was hurt.

  The hierarchy demons homed in. Baal and Asmodeus fell among a hundred marines, screeching their bloodlust at the skies. Belial came straight at Cheyne.

  She picked up a dozen wayclearer demons with a funnel of power and threw them straight into the faces of the oncoming T-Rexes. The distraction gave her time to focus on the oncoming demon. It was huge; a snarling, screaming dragon, breathing fire and covered in scales, twice the length of a London bus.

  Cheyne raised a fog of salt to blind it. She sent a dagger of rock, sheared from a nearby mountain to cut it. She fired boulder after boulder at its skull and body. Belial dove and wove through the air, hit several times, flinching but flying closer and closer. Fire erupted from its jaws, a great belching gout of it. Cleaver thought their time had come, but the witch coven fell to their knees and threw up their hands, raising a wall of steam that negated the flames. Cleaver then saw the witches collapse in strain, wearied by the immense protective spell.