by Rick Heinz
The Sons and Daughters were faring no better than Mike, taken by surprise, they had to leave their ledges and dive to the floor, only to find it was a sandpit of ash, slowing down any movement to a winter’s crawl.
Only Akira and Lucy seemed to be doing well, Akira running along the walls as an insect slicing the heads off the hounds when she could, Lucy turning to a gray mist and reforming before burying her axe into hound after hound.
When Cerberus bit into Mike, it dived to the floor and shook its head like a dog with a bone. Mike’s left hand started to glow bright red as fangs protruded from his face. Wild eyes of frenzy, a mouse in a snake’s mouth, fighting for its life, he slammed his fist into the face of Cerberus so hard that ash from the floor was swept into the air. His hand became a blur striking again and again. Each strike caused the creature to growl and wince, until finally the hellhound’s fangs shattered. The three heads let go at once and started tending to the middle head, its jaw bludgeoned in.
Mike fell, his leg in scraps and half his body hanging open. Rage was all he could feel. I will not die here. Snarling back at the hound with his fangs, he used his good leg to vault himself back up at its throat.
The Sons and Daughters didn’t hesitate as they regained their footing from the initial onslaught. Each of them shifted targets to Cerberus. The Captain’s flames mixed around Lucy’s axe as she and Akira moved toward the animal. Phoebe and Doc took aim with their guns at its eyes. Their bullets struck at the same time, ripping the beast apart as it had done to Mike.
They drank its blood. The taste of peaches and spiced honey was addictive. Soon they found themselves ignoring the room around them as they drank together, wounds healing themselves. The other hellhounds crouched low and backed away as the alpha was killed, unsure of the new hierarchy.
It was the sound of slow clapping that caused them to cease their ecstasy. Mike looked to the sound, his ribs slowly rebuilding. A man stepped out of the inky shadows, covered in fur from head to toe. As he came into the light of Lucy’s lantern, he revealed himself as a hellhound that was half man, walking upright on two massive hound legs with an elongated jaw and teeth at all angles. His deep, growling voice echoed throughout the chamber.
“Well done. Well done,” he said. “If only entirely reckless. I could have killed you while you were enthralled. Do you know why demon blood heals you so quickly? It is not a gift of life. It is used so you can be tormented eternally.”
“Oh, great. We got a talker,” said Mike. “Yeah, okay, Tindalos. Go back to your pit. None of us are taking your deal.” Mike’s vision of the dead lands was clearer than it had ever been, with something he never noticed before. Standing now, on the other side, he could see a pathway back into the living world. Near an empty tunnel stood four familiar ghosts from his life, showing him the way. Nobody else on his team even glanced in that tunnel’s direction. They can’t see that? Oh, wait, mega-arch-super demon. Nobody else cares about my ghosts.
“O’Neil needs to send better ambassadors next time. It’s a pity you’re not interested in an alliance. After his betrayals, at least one of us still does our job.” Tindalos began to sink back into the abyss behind him.
“Wait!” said Lucy. “Don’t listen to him. We need your help to close the rift. What is it you’re looking for? Why are you here?”
He stepped forward and moved more into her light, revealing his eyes, which looked like a night sky with stars in them rather than pupils as he moved his jaw a few feet away from her. In Lucy’s light, it almost appeared as if barbed chains were thrust into his back and trailed off like puppet strings into the abyss. They didn’t match his motif, however, red and gnarled with hooks. Small curled flames decorated them.
“So one will listen?” Tindalos seemed hopeful. “I am the demon of loyalty. You’ve been killing my children for days now. Your Unification put me into service,” he said. “I serve them as you do now. My hounds dragging souls, not to hell or heaven where they belong, but to some soulless heathen’s kingdom in the north.”
Tindalos wrapped a paw around a red chain and slid it forth into Lucy’s light. A gnarled iron lock dangled, holding five chains together. “The key, is what I wish. This place—” He spat on the ground. “It’s one nexus point where your lords of death eliminate their competition. Ssssooomething has weakened the barrier, and now my hounds are visible. I’ve heard tales on their lips of what it is.” He leaned back into the shadows, chains scraping on the ground. His eyes shined like a starry night sky. “A new prophet cometh.”
“Yeah, as Lucy said, there isn’t much of a choice. We are here to close a rift, buddy. I assume that’s through eating your heart,” Mike said.
“Dibs!” Akira shouted as she peeked around Mike’s coat.
“Yes, that would be wise for you, slayer of Golgoroth. You’ve already slain an arch demon of war. Saving the Second City from him. Killing a demon prince, the demon of loyalty’s heart would make a fantastic addition to your collection. Imagine what you could do.” He lifted the wrought-iron chains. “Here I am all chained up as well. Unable to defend myself.”
Lucy slapped the broadside of her axe into Mike’s chest. “Shut up. You can’t kill him. Angels make the wind blow, the trees grow, the tides flow. They make the world turn.” Lucy placed herself between Mike and Tindalos. “Demons deal with human-made things. Lust, apathy, loyalty, love, hatred, and even hope. They twist and test our virtues. If you kill him, loyalty will cease to exist. Imagine a world where the concept of loyalty is but a memory . . .”
“Oh, that’s just rich coming from the self-proclaimed demon huntress herself.” Mike laughed. “Listen. We make our own fates. We need to stop hounds from fucking eating people!”
“It was you who said that my death was the answer.” Tindalos crept around the edge of Lucy’s lantern. “O’Neil sent you here to make a choice. Set the stage for you to act. Let the Unification use this city as part of their ritual. The choice to bury her here was theirs.” He tapped the iron cross that jutted out of the concrete three times.
Tindalos snarled. “This was placed here by Lord of Heaven’s Wrath decades ago. It’s the body of a girl who was never born in this world. She-who-shudders-with-the-lidless-eye is her name. She’s quite dead, or rather, never born to begin with. Her eyes stolen by the fallen king, Balor. A remnant that the Unification needed to eliminate, and inside her grave is what I need,” he said. “Freedom so close, yet untouchable by my kind.”
“To what end?” Doc asked.
“She is the only thing that knows King Balor’s true name. I’ve been chained here in servitude to keep her dreams of that name contained. Forcing souls through her as a conduit to fuel their ritual. She is the link that ties these cities together. Upon completion, she will die. Which will erase an old legend from history when Lazarus closes the gates. Killing one to pave way for another. How else does one pull off something so grand if not over the graves of enemies?” Tindalos began to shift into a hellhound made of shadow.
His voice continued to echo in the room around them. “Set me free, and I stop feeding the neverborn. Her dreams will spread back into the world, paving the way for the Balor’s return. My hounds leave, and the Second City is free of my demons. Kill me, and my hounds will scatter indeed. Loyalty would become a forgotten trait among your kind. Either way, this ritual will wither and die in nights to come. Make your choice.” His teeth dripped acidic saliva, and his eyes glowed white as he began to stress the chains.
“If we do nothing?” Mike held out his hands to calm the beast, not ready for a fight yet.
“You are just monsters who roam this earth, wrapped in the chains of your keepers. My hounds will continue to drag this city to be used as kindling in a great spell,” he snapped. Out of the shadows behind the hound, smaller hounds began to creep out.
“Eh, isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black?” Mike remarked.
“You’ll break your loyalty to one side or another. Even if you are unaware wh
ich side you are truly on yet.” Tindalos chuckled deeply. The chains behind him were lifted by the smaller hounds, allowing Tindalos to move closer.
Doc held up his finger while bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Uh . . . sir? Excuse us for one minute, please.” Everyone moved into a huddle as Doc frantically tried to organize them. “Okay. I say we do nothing. We just set up containment points. We just stay here and keep killing hounds. Stopping any more fuel going to the Twin Cities.”
The Captain swatted Doc on the head. “No, you moron. We fucking kill it. We need to seal the rift. What demon in their right mind wants to die? Of course he wants us to do nothing or set it free. Besides, his loyalty thing is a crock. Humans are already selfish lots who act in self-preservation.”
“Nightmares ain’t so bad, I reckon,” Akira said while picking her teeth. “Look, so what if some king of nightmares comes back. We already got ’em. If he’s a problem, won’t Lazarus just smite him anyway? Besides, sounds like a fairy tale. I always liked those.”
The scraping of chains across the floor caused the group to look up as Tindalos yanked on his bindings. Behind him, another pack of hellhounds crawled out of the shadows.
“Down, boy. We’re workin’ here. Tell me what happens when you seal this portal thingy to purgatory,” Mike said.
Tindalos smiled as best a giant hound could. “I take my hounds and go back to my real purpose. Hellhounds leave your city. The dead stored here will wander until properly judged or guided. It is not my purpose, so I don’t care. I’m willing to bet your city will have to get used to turning up the thermostat for dear old dead grandma with the way things are going, however.”
“What kind of fucked-up deal is this?” Mike asked, he picked up a small rock and threw it at the ground. Damned if we do. Damned if we don’t. Damned if we eat him.
“Fine,” said Lucy. “I’ll get it.” Before anyone could respond, she had already turned into a mist, her lantern disappearing with her, and she flowed into the gravestone.
Tindalos let out a deep howl. “Freedom!” He paced back and forth, looking down.
Below, Mike could see her flying among the souls. It’s good she can fly. I would be stuck on the wall. “Tindalos, I’m the one who’s going to make the deal, so if it goes south with the Unification, it falls on me. I’m not letting anyone else die around me because of it. Understood? Leave their names out of everything.”
“The slayer of Golgoroth is willing to bear the consequences of her choice? It shows how loyal you really are to your friends. I will make sure that history never forgets you, Auburn. I’ll sell your tale that you dived in, freed Tindalos, and betrayed the Unification.” The hound’s eyes glowed green for a second. “If you want this in your name, then you open the lock.”
Lucy returned quickly. Mike could see her already flowing back up from the rivers just a minute after she left. She rematerialized back into solid form among them and jingled a set of keys with a pink rabbit’s foot on them. “Before you ask, the lantern shows what’s hidden. It’s how I hunt demons. Turns out it also works on keys lost in the first layer of hell.”
“Toss me the keys, Lucy. It will be better for everyone if your name isn’t attached to this deed,” Mike said.
She hesitated and looked back at Mike. Phoebe gave her a nod of approval. “You’re going to save me, a demon hunter, from making a deal with one?” Lucy said, her eyes widened.
Mike only nodded. She gave a genuine smile as she threw the keys to Mike. He approached Tindalos with measured steps and placed his hand on the lock. Yeah, who am I kidding. Lucy has the right call. This is what she meant by ‘you can’t kill every demon.’ Who cares if O’Neil sat on the fence? He let us determine fate. With a twist of a key, sparks flew out of the lock.
Chains all around the junction lit on fire and fell to the ground. Ashes rose in the air. Howls could be heard from every tunnel, almost drowning out a slow chuckle from Tindalos.
“The creature with the tattered green trench coat, the Auburn, will be remembered by history as the leader of the Sons and Daughters,” Tindalos said. “Now leave before my hounds seek glory at feasting on the heart of the slayer of Golgoroth.”
“What about our deal?” asked Doc.
“I am the demon of loyalty. I’ve tested your bonds, and our deal stands. Yet you remain as sinners and betrayers, fit for my hounds to take with us.” Ink was already swirling around him as the shadows in the room danced at his command. The gateway below them was beginning to close.
Hounds leaped around them. Grabbing Phoebe’s hand, Mike ran for the exit, his ghosts frantically gesturing to hurry. Looking back, he saw his friends right on their heels. All but one. The Captain was deeper into purgatory as hounds dragged him away. The light in his eyes was already gone.
“Thank you for freedom. Now, little creatures . . . run,” Tindalos whispered over the howls.
CHAPTER 32
The city looked grayer by the time they got above ground and back on their bikes, no one saying a word. Buildings looked more aged than usual, marred by stains and burn marks. As they drove past some of them on the south side, Mike would catch glimpses in the windows of ghosts flickering in and out of reality. He looked at each one, hoping to see the Captain or perhaps Frank standing there. Mike pulled over and stopped his bike. When Akira slowed down to join him, Mike rushed to her and swiped her smokes from her pocket.
“Hey! What the hell?”
“Deal. I’m bumming one. Take it out on Doc. He’s the cause of this,” Mike said, lighting one up, leaning against a pole.
Getting off the back of Akira’s bike, Doc put his hand on her shoulder and said to Mike, “Let it go.”
“Fuck that. I’m not letting shit go. You crumpled my last pack of smokes.”
“Mike, about the Cap—”
“Don’t even mention it.” Mike pointed at Doc. “It was your bright idea to look into this whole thing. Now look, another person I’ve met is dead. Besides, people die and we barely knew him.”
Phoebe tried to chime in. “Kill the tough-guy act. We all know—”
“I said don’t mention it. I’m getting pretty damn used to seeing the dead walk around all the time and all these fucking ghosts lying about. City looks kinda cool covered in ash all the time. The Captain had iron balls that clanked when he walked. He was a flame-wielding, sorcerer-supreme badass.”
“Hey,” Lucy said. “About that. Mike, how did you know which tunnel to take?”
“The obvious one? I mean, the same ghosts that are always around me guided us out of there.”
“Mike. What ghosts?” she pressed. “What city of ash?”
“You know, the land of the dead? Shedding your innocence and all that jazz. It’s the reason we see the world differently, because we drank the blood.”
“That’s not how it works. You see vampires and demons that are walking around you clear as day. Sure. But you only see ghosts and the lands of purgatory if you actually step across. The city, or anywhere, only looks dead from the other side. The barrier between worlds may be weakened, but it’s not shattered. We’re trying to stop that shattering,” Lucy replied.
“I’m done,” he said, flicking his smoke. “I said don’t mention it. You guys all got night-vision powers. It looks like I got special ghost vision.” He picked his bike up and began to jet off. So what if I could see them before.
They made their way back to the warehouse. The long night had calmed most of the city’s violence, and the bitter cold deprived even the heartiest of the will to fight. Looting, however, still seemed fashionable. The steel roll-up doors of the warehouse rattled open as they got close. Morris had opened the doors for them. The grim look on his face and his bloodstained shirt told Mike that their night was not over yet.
They pulled into the warehouse and cut their bikes. Soldiers from the National Guard were strung up on meat hooks, with their blood draining into bowls beneath them. O’Neil and JJ were having casual conversation near some table
s and chairs. Morris went back to work on the bodies.
“What the hell is this?” Mike shouted, hopping off his bike and stepping up to Morris.
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” Morris had his hands out. “They were already dead. We didn’t do this. They were killed by a plague demon near here. I saved the rest of them. They ran, though.”
“So you are just going to eat the dead, then?” Mike asked.
“Uh, yeah, actually. I’m a vampire. That’s what I do. Be real, friend. Where else are you going to get blood?”
“Ugh, can’t we find serial killers or something?” Mike asked.
“Do not get all righteous on us. You are a predator now. Act like one,” Morris said as he leveled a meat hook at Mike.
Mike couldn’t help but feel the draw to drink. He was still hungry even after he feasted on that demon. Human blood just seemed more enticing. He grabbed a bowl. Fuck it. I’m not really that noble after all. Everyone dies someday. I might as well make a meal out of it. Besides, their souls leave their body and walk around. Sometimes they haunt me. I could deal with a few soldiers hanging around. Never know when that could help. He walked over to O’Neil and JJ. Everyone else was busy cleaning themselves off and getting ready to unwind.
“It’s done,” Mike said. “Power is turned off. World’s saved. Woo-hoo.” He plopped down and used a spoon to eat his new nightly soup.
“You came back.” O’Neil smiled. “With more of your crew than Morris would have expected. I knew you had it in you.” O’Neil snipped off the end of a cigar. “I’ll let JJ fill you in on what comes next.”
Mike looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Slowly bringing the spoon to his lips and slurping slightly as he stared.
“Primus Vryce, warlock of the Society of Deus, is responsible for the damage so far. He betrayed the Unification and opened the Innocence further than it should have been. He’s been part of a conspiracy to create an army of undead soldiers for conquest and to fight back against Lazarus, all so he can become a lich himself,” Mr. Bollard said as he folded his hands in front of him.
