At The Gates (Demon Squad)

by Tim Marquitz

  Staying behind him, I ran at him full tilt. As soon as I got close, I leapt onto his back and sunk my left hand into his fur and latched on tight. He roared in surprise and defiance as I jammed the barrel of my pistol against his open eye that turned to glare at me.

  “Sweet dreams, Grumpy.”

  As fast as I could, I pulled the trigger, keeping the gun as steady as possible as he bucked against me. Black blood and milky fluid exploded from the socket like a geyser, my hand and gun soaked with it. His razor-throated growl ceased in mid-course and he went rigid. The paw that had reached up to swat me stopped cold and hung in the air for a second before swinging lifeless to his side.

  Grawwl twitched, a waterfall of thick blood spilling through his daggered teeth, and then collapsed beneath me. I rode him down with a whoop.

  “You’re gonna make one Hell of a rug.” I slid off his rigid back.

  Rahim tore through another werewolf and ran over to me. “We lost the Nephilim piece holder,” he shouted over the battle sounds. “We need to find him.”

  My emotions a roller coaster, I plunged cursing the whole way down. My eyes flitting to find him, Katon saved me the trouble.

  “I don’t think it matters anymore.” He drew our attention upward.

  Amidst the gathered white clouds of the storm, illuminated by the purple flashes exploding around it, a brilliant white portal was tearing open the sky. Bright light filtered down as the gates to Eden eased into existence.

  “Look,” Rahim cried out, pointing to a pile of broken Nephilim not quite ten feet from us.

  A glow similar to that of the gate glimmered in the pile of bodies, its source hidden under ravaged flesh, its rays piercing the ruin that lay over it.

  “Over there too,” Katon added, gesturing to another similar glow obviously emanating from Adam’s skull.

  I yanked Eve out and saw that she too was glowing and everything clicked. The mystery of how the pieces went together was answered; they didn’t. They just needed to be close enough to each other, their presence enough to trigger the gate. “Get those other bones and bring them closer to keep the gate open.” Rahim and Katon responded immediately and ran off after them. In my head, I called out for Poe.

  “McConnell is already on his way, but he isn’t the only one,” the mentalist’s even voice reported.

  My eyes snapped to the sky. Like a flock of birds shooed from the bushes, the air was full of darting shadows that raced toward the opening gate. Vampires led the way but the Nephilim who could fly—and there were a whole bunch of them—were close behind, and gaining.

  In the race to reach Heaven, the two groups stopped fighting, concentrating only on being the first to cross the finish line. The clouds surrounding the gate roiled, flashes of lightning blurring the sky in defiance of their presence.

  Without Scarlett to race ahead to Uriel, we were gonna have to do it ourselves. “Change of plans,” I shouted to Rahim and Katon as they returned. “You guys try to hold the gate. I’m gonna go for Forcalor.” Our odds still slim to none, I thought it best to seek out my old mentor rather than risk Uriel killing me in the heat of battle. That would suck.

  “No one is going anywhere!”

  An explosion of force followed the words and the world around me whipped into frenzy. Like a nuclear blast, a wall of kinetic energy trampled over us, leveling everything in its path. I slammed into the ground hard as if I’d been hit by a giant flyswatter. My skull felt as though it was gonna leak out my eyes, my body tingling with pinpricks of shock. I couldn’t get my arms or legs to respond. They lay there trembling as though not connected.

  Through the haze of my wobbled mind, I saw Azrael as he came to stand before us. The fiends had done him no favors.

  Claw marks ravaged the left side of his narrow face, flesh hanging from his cheek and forehead. His skull was visible beneath the wounds, soft white amidst the oozing black seep. His body was no better off. His robes were shredded, their tattered remnants wet with growing stains of blood. He held a crippled hand out before him, the last two fingers little more than dripping stumps, teeth marks visible in the remaining flesh of his palm.

  “You are dead, demon.” He spoke through clenched teeth. The swelling at his jaw pretty much confirming it was broken.

  I cast a quick glance to where Katon and Rahim lay and neither seemed to be able to get up either. They floundered about trying desperately to stand, their legs in rebellion.

  Azrael stepped over me and glared down, infernos in his eyes. His uninjured hand shimmered with obsidian energy that threw sparks in every direction, and he raised it to strike.

  “Not so fast, Azrael,” a thready voice warned from behind the archangel.

  Old Grim spun about and glared. Akrasiel—Raguel— stood there bold in his golden armor, his intricate sword pointed toward Azrael.

  Azrael just laughed, the sound muted by his injured jaw. “You’re too late to balance the scales, Raguel.” He gestured to the dark forms that flew toward the gate to Eden. “The Tree is in its final throes and will soon die along with your pitiful dream of Heaven.”

  “It’s not dead yet,” Akrasiel countered while casting a sideways glance at me.

  “You think the little demon prodigy has it in him to save the Kingdom?” Azrael shook his head. “You’re as big a fool as Lucifer for believing this runt could be the Anti-Christ. Worse yet, Raguel, you’re an incorporeal fool whose time has passed.” He waved his hand at the archangel. A tendril of energy snapped out and passed harmlessly through Raguel as though he weren’t there. “Without God and Satan in the world, you’re nothing but a ghost.” His laugh whistled between his teeth.

  “I might not have the power to stop you, but sometimes all it takes is a distraction to turn the tide.” He winked, a satisfied smile springing to life on his lips.

  Azrael looked to me then up toward the gate. Silent explosions, like cascading fireworks, were highlighted against the cloudy backdrop. Vampires and Nephilim alike fell burning from the sky. A fetid rain of flesh and blood followed. I didn’t need to see him to know it was McConnell, the gray tracers a sure sign.

  While it thrilled my heart to see the cowboy doing a good deed, I knew he couldn’t hold out for long. Surprise working in his favor for the moment, it wouldn’t be long before he succumbed to his wounds, his magic tearing them open wide. If that didn’t kill him, the surging wall of vampires and half-breeds who slipped past his defenses would.

  Azrael shrieked and looked back at me as if weighing his options. I must not have made the cut as far as his priorities went. He turned and loosed a burst of energy at Raquel, the sparking bolt of blackness scouring the archangel’s presence away, its power dispersing the angel’s ethereal image.

  Without another word, Azrael leapt into the air and streaked toward McConnell, an obsidian trail of shadows swirling in his wake.

  Azrael gone, I crawled my way to my feet, finally able to function somewhat. Rahim and Katon did the same. We staggered toward one another, all of us stumbling as though we were drunk. I could only wish.

  Despite the head start of everyone else, I was confident we could still get to the gate first, with Rachelle’s help. I just wasn’t sure what we could do when we got there. Looking into Rahim’s eyes, I saw he was running on empty, Katon only slightly less weary. I knew where I stood and it wasn’t good.

  “You ready for this?”

  Both nodded without hesitation despite knowing we had no chance. Talk about balls.

  As I sent a message to Poe, I glanced up and saw Azrael plowing his way toward the gate, bowling over vampire and Nephilim alike in his rush. McConnell’s energy had begun to slip, the wall of explosions I’d first seen now little more than the flicker of candles. He was running out of power, his body defying him.

  The storm around the gate had grown worse, the first signs of its deadly fall beginning to manifest. Lightning flickered through the clouds with such tenacity that the entire sky seemed purple. Azrael was right, the Tr
ee was on its deathbed, thunder its death rattle.

  Rachelle’s voice sang inside my head and I started to give her our locations when a thought sparked to life, cutting through the murky gloom of my defeatism. I told her to wait a second and looked to Rahim and Katon.

  “I’ve an idea.”

  Rahim shook his head. “We don’t have time to get laid, Frank.” He glared at me impatient.

  “Though that’s a great idea, it wasn’t what I had in mind.”

  McConnell’s explosions now gone from the sky, the first in the wedge of Nephilim and vampires reaching the gate, there was no time to explain. I gave Rachelle coordinates and hoped dearly I hadn’t just helped to screw the pooch.

  As a shimmering blue portal appeared before me, way too small for any of us to fit through, Rahim snarled, his eyes flickering red as he realized I’d gone ahead with my plan. Katon just stared as I dug in my pocket and yanked out the vial of my uncle’s blood.

  I popped the stopper and stared at the shifting blood inside for just a second. A frustrated sigh slipped out and I growled, then made up my mind to hurl the open vial through the portal. It spun and zipped through the passage, a scarlet arc whipping about behind it as it flew out the other side of the portal and careened into Heaven.

  “What are you thinking, Frank?” Rahim asked with a graveled stutter, his ursine face just inches from mine. Katon stood behind him, his sword wavering in my direction, fury and confusion engraved upon his dark face with equal measure. He’d always thought I’d betray them one day, believing I still owed a debt to Baalth. He might be right about the betrayal, but in my defense, I’d never do it on purpose.

  By accident or incompetence was an entirely different matter.

  Watching as Azrael and thousands of violent intruders disappeared into Eden’s gate, I felt my chest tighten as the stress of the last few days caught up to me all at once. My legs going limp beneath me, I fell to my knees staring up at the ashen flakes that drifted down toward us. Thunder rumbled so loud it shook the ground, but the gates stayed open, enemies pouring into its gaping maw.

  “I’m thinking I just fucked us all,” I answered in all honesty. “How was it?”

  Though the original plan never really had any realistic chance of a happy ending—at least not for us—had I stuck to it we could have gone out with some semblance of honor, dying in battle, however futile. Instead, I went with a stray thought that popped into my head after days of sleep deprivation, drunkenness, and plain old fashioned physical abuse. It wasn’t one of my most rational moves.

  After a moment of screaming at me, Katon and Rahim stumbled off and I barely noticed. My eyes were frozen on Eden. Not only had I condemned us all, but I’d pushed Uriel and Forcalor under the bus while I was at it. I’m nothing if not generous.

  My stomach a boiling pit of guilt and acid, I heard a high pitched whine scream to life. It sliced through my skull. Above us, flickers of light, like a million matches being lit at once, appeared before the gate.

  I looked to Rahim as he readied his magic to take him and Katon up to Eden, apparently oblivious to the sound. “Wait!” I screamed at them as the whine grew inside my head. Pointing to Heaven, they glanced up to see the flickers.

  Right then, the world exploded.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A wave of energy erupted from Eden, a searing light burning away everything in the sky in a whitewash of brilliance. The piercing whine a physical agony that threatened to shatter my skull, I covered my head and curled up in a ball as the sky rained down on top of us. Hurricane winds buffeted my back and its sharpened tongues licked at any exposed flesh, searing lines of agony appearing red across my arms and scalp, a patchwork of razor cuts.

  After a moment of slicing torment, the wind subsided and I braved a quick glance through shredded fingers. The energy disbursed, I could see again, though tiny flashes of pop-lights plagued my vision, flickering in and out to the frantic rhythm of my heartbeat.

  From above, pieces of flesh and bone, scraps of clothing, and a wet red rain fell all around us, the ground pooling moist beneath it.

  The gates of Eden were charred an ashy gray, wisps of smoke drifting out in great tendrils. The skies around them were blotted out by an oily blackness, the clouds and deadly snow gone. The world was silent, though I wasn’t sure if it actually was or if my eardrums had just burst. I touched my hand to my ears and came away with spots of blood. Both were an option apparently.

  Nearby, Rahim and Katon got to their feet, appearing just as disheveled and battered as I felt. There was no doubt we all looked like twice-warmed shit. They glanced at me with questions in their eyes, and I shrugged, all of our gazes swinging upwards as the world suddenly became brighter.

  The obsidian dark was squeegeed from the sky in thick swaths revealing shining stars and glimmers of moonlight as the unnatural blackness was washed away. Quiet thunder sounded in the distance and I began to be able to hear the muffled splashes of the morbid rain that fell around us. Guess I wasn’t deaf after all.

  Then suddenly, a whispered song fluttered into my head, a melodic chant that seemed to float around us as though it had substance. After a moment, the song rose in volume and a shimmering light appeared in the darkness of Eden’s gate.

  Roughly spherical, the light drifted from the gate and hovered in the sky above us. Tiny wisps of dimmer lights circled about the sphere like moons in orbit around a planet. Its light so bright, that after a minute, I had to look away, flickering dots searing on my eyeballs.

  A gasp drew my eyes back up, the light having dimmed. At its center floated what appeared to be an old man, a long white beard flowing down his narrow chest. His bald head glistened in the light and golden eyes stared down at the battlefield from under thick white eyebrows. He held out his hands, his light brown robes fluttering despite there being no breeze.

  Though I’d never seen him before, it didn’t take a genius to realize that this was Metatron. His power butted against my senses like hurricane force winds, and I was kind of glad I hadn’t chosen to stand, the feeling humbling.

  “Begone! Heaven is not yours to defile.” His voice roared through the air and his words slapped against my face as though they were a solid object.

  Already in retreat mode, the Nephilim needed no further encouragement to hit the road running. Cockroaches scrambling for cover under the lights, they scattered in every direction but up. There was nothing to see but half-breed assholes and elbows for miles.

  I caught sight of Venai as she summoned an escape portal, Jorn’s massive bulk alongside her. She cast a furious glance my direction and slid her thumb across her throat before diving through her gate. Jorn trundled after and the portal disappeared.

  The vampires were long gone by then, and what remained of the weres imitated the Nephilim and hightailed it out of sight. After just a few minutes, the battlefield was clear of the living, only the dead and us still in attendance. If I’d had any energy left, I’d have been right there with them.

  Metatron watched the retreat for a moment, then turned his focus on us. He looked from Rahim to Katon and then his golden gaze settled on me. It took everything I had not to look away. His power still battered my senses, but it had been tempered to a manageable level.

  He drifted down and settled before me, his sandaled feet floating inches above the ground. He shook his head as he appraised me. Still on my knees, I felt a bit awkward so I got back to my feet. Weariness helped keep my fear in check.

  “Duke Forcalor told me you were a fool, Triggaltheron, but I would never have imagined it was to such an extent.” He stuck his hand out and there was an empty vial in his wrinkled palm. His face was expressionless, but there was a sense of dire seriousness wafting off his words. Not sure what he wanted me to do with the empty vial, I left it sitting in his hand.

  When I had imagined the blood of my uncle rousing Metatron, I hadn’t thought it would actually work. I also hadn’t thought about the consequences of Satan’s ess
ence returning to Heaven after all these years. While I’d hoped it would be enough of a shock to Metatron that it would rile him up and get him to react, I really hadn’t given any thought to what would happen after he woke up and finished dealing with the angelic rebellion. That’s me: one step ahead, two thoughts behind.

  Rahim and Katon took a few steps back, leaving me alone before the archangel. I could feel the love, though I couldn’t blame them. I’d have done the same thing.

  Metatron cast the vial aside and stared at me a moment longer before a soft chuckle spilled from his mouth, the sharp lines of his eyes softening.

  “It seems, however, that we were in need of a fool.” Once more he stuck out his hand, but this time I didn’t shy away, his smile encouraging. I took his hand and gripped it tight. “Long have I mourned the loss of God, blinded in his absence by my self-pity. When I felt Lucifer’s essence, I was startled into awareness with hope that He, too, had returned.” I tried to look apologetic, but I really suck at it. “Alas, though it was not to be, I am grateful to be awoken to world where I once again have a purpose.”