by Ryan Attard
“Thanks,” I said, before releasing a long breath. “Right. We need a plan. I’ll get Gil on the phone. Amaymon, I’m gonna need you to track down where the attackers came from and where they went. Their scent should still be fresh enough.”
“On it, boss,” he said.
“Come get me as soon as you have a location,” I said. “Abi, you and I go find the Grigori and get your mom back.”
She nodded.
“Anything I can do to help?” Jack offered.
“You’ve done plenty,” I said, patting the brand new gun in my holster. “But if you feel like taking a field trip to potentially fight the world’s best magic users in a battle that most likely kill us all, then you’re more than welcome.”
Jack grinned. The skin on his fist turned dull grey and metallic. “I’m always down for a fight.”
I nodded. “Okay, lemme get Gil-”
My hand hovered over the phone when it rang. I frowned at it as my hand automatically reached out to grasp it. Wordlessly, I held the receiver to my ear.
“Mr. Ashendale.”
There was no mistaking that voice.
“Alan Greede,” I said. Every sound in the office deadened, and the world seemed to come to halt. “I should have known.”
“And yet here you are.” Greede chuckled. “I see you’ve received my little message.”
I glanced at the unconscious Vensir on my couch. “You’re gonna pay for that.”
“Oh dear,” he said. “One more item on the list of transgressions the mighty Erik Ashendale is gonna punish me for. I would be concerned, were it not for the fact that we had this exact conversation a couple of weeks ago. I believe my sin at the time was forcibly acquiring the Necronomicon from your sister.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I growled.
“Good, good,” Greede said. “I’ve been delighting myself with throwing challenges your way. You seem to have grown… well, stronger would be an overuse of the term. More dogged perhaps. Almost to a fault.”
“The fuck do you want?” I snapped. “Are you here to gloat, or do you wanna make an actual demand before I hang up?”
“Always to the finish,” he said. “One of the few things I like about you. Very well then. Look outside your office window.”
I made a gesture and Abi ran towards the window, parting the blinds. The sun was setting over grey clouds, a blazing ball of light and fire struggling to pierce a thick veil of thunder and storms. If I stared at it had enough it was almost as if the sun was getting closer and closer.
Until I realized that was not the sun.
Just a man on fire.
Luke the Pyromancer landed gracefully ten feet away from my office door, and stood motionless in the middle of the quiet street where I had set up shop. Flames danced around him, reigned in almost like a tiger prowling in its cage, waiting for the moment to leap.
I snickered into the phone.
“First you send a demonic assassin after me, now Fire Boy shows up,” I said. “Man, you must be running out of good help, aren’t you? Soon there’ll be no one left, Greede. Just you and me.”
“Precisely,” he said. “That would be delicious.” He released a mad cackle. “But observe better, Mr. Ashendale. Luke is not alone.”
Right on cue, Luke raised his fingers to his mouth. The whistle was shrill and loud. I felt a spike of magic. Energy flew around us, almost like a blanket, but disappeared just as quick. Whatever spell Luke had used was either too weak or he’d messed it up.
Or did he?
A tremor sent a pencil on my desk rolling to the ground. The floor shook again, and this time the tremors grew tenfold. I looked at Amaymon who bared his teeth at the window.
Shit.
I rushed outside, the phone still pressed to my ear. Large shadows manifested next to Luke, before they became more textured. There was no mistaking the beasts next to him.
I was too stunned to count the feral, mutated Vensir next to Luke, but let’s just say the number was high enough to qualify as a ‘fuckton’. Each beast held a weapon in its hands, swords and clubs made from a material that was darker than black. That took a second to register. The Vensir were wielding weapons made from the bones of their fallen comrades. I would have been revolted, were I not already terrified and enraged — my emotional quota was already full by then.
“I take it from your silence that you’re admiring my army,” Greede’s voice crackled from the phone.
“Go to hell, Greede.”
“Already been. Actually have a nice little summer house there. You should come over sometime.” He chuckled again. “Okay, Mr. Ashendale, pay attention because this is the real deal. Everything you seek is at Ryleh Corp — the succubus, the Grigori, the Vensir. Everything. And I am willing to give you carte blanche on my super secret plan. All you have to do is show up. Provided, of course, you survive.”
Throughout that entire speech I stared at a point in the wall. I could hear the Vensir roaring outside. Luke’s fire flickered in my peripheral vision. I could feel the tension mounting in my office as everyone armed themselves.
“Thank you,” I told Greede. “I’ve been racking my head as to all the missing pieces, but you just told me exactly what I have to do. You just sent near-indestructible monsters and an asshole I’ve been wanting to put in the ground to my doorstep. You think this is some kinda trial? Think again, fuckface. What you just sent is target practice.”
Greede laughed maliciously. “There he is. That’s the Erik I’ve been dying to meet.”
I was aware of the living shadows forming around my body.
“And one more thing,” I growled into the phone. “You said you were gonna tell me everything — well, I don’t want you to do that, Greede. I want you to fight back. Because I want the pleasure of beating every word out of you.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he crowed. “Come at me, Mr. Ashendale. Come at me. I am waiting.”
I slammed the phone back in its place — by some miracle it remained intact — and turned to my team.
“Who’s ready to kick some ass?”
Chapter 20
I started by summoning my power. Thirteen crystals were embedded inside the walls of my office, allowing me to bypass the primary restriction on my curse. Magic coursed through me and I gave it purpose.
The barrier was like a forcefield. It covered my office like a dome, preventing the enraged Vensir — and one soon-to-be-pummeled Pyromancer — from launching an all out assault and simple tearing my door down.
I trembled. Using regular magic after so many years always felt weird and just… wrong, I guess. You learn to live in the weird for so long that as soon as something right comes your way, your view of it becomes distorted.
Jack and Abi immediately ran to a wardrobe on the leftmost wall. Guns, knives, weapons of all sorts hung inside. They grabbed their gear and prepped for the oncoming fight. Abi strapped Sun Wo Kung to her hair, using it like a chopstick to keep her hair out of her eyes. At the same time, she loaded an AR-15 semiautomatic.
Jack just took a few stacks of bullets. His arm melted away before elongating into a gun barrel. He thrust the bullets in a port where his bicep used to be and pocketed the rest.
I took out the new gun. No time like the present to test it out.
“Amaymon,” I said, pulling back the slide. “There’s a lot of them and few of us. Anything you can do about that?”
He cocked his head. “I’m assuming you still want the city standing afterwards.”
“Obviously.”
He slapped his fist to his palm. “I’ll have to do it personally then,” he said.
“The barrier does not cover underground,” I told him.
The demon grinned. “Thanks, dear.”
He stomped on the ground creating a man-sized hole right in the middle of my office floor and felt through it, merging with the ground beneath.
“I’ll provide long range support,” Jack said. He promptly stepped up to the window
and thrust his arm through the glass.
I swore undertone.
“Yeah, I could have opened that, couldn’t I?” he said sheepishly.
“Just shoot the bad guys,” I said.
Jack aimed and opened fire. At the same time, I saw Amaymon pop up from behind the Vensir lines, yelled out something I should not report in front of children, and leapt onto the first beast.
The Vensir was tougher that expected. It lasted a full minute against the feral demon before Amaymon twisted its head completely and pulled it off. Vensir bones may be indestructible but turns out you can still separate them from the joints.
Huh. Guess you do learn something new everyday.
“Abi, join Jack,” I said.
She nodded and went up to a window. And — testament to the fact that women are smarter than men — she opened the window to stick her assault rifle out.
Their cover fire proved ineffective in killing the Vensir but enough to stall them so I could slip out.
“Time to see what this baby can do.”
I aimed the gun at the nearest monster and fired. With a big gun like that, I expected it to kick like a mule. The giant pistol fired off like silk, the blowback completely nullified. The bullet drilled into a Vensir’s stomach, doubling it over but I never expected it to kill.
I had magic for that.
As I channeled power the runes lit up, glowing like ambers. I fired off again. The bullet blazed like a missile form hell, bright red and angry. It met the Vensir’s skull and exploded, tearing the monster’s face off. The creature fell down, screaming and wheezing. Its big black skull remained intact, but trust me, nothing is gonna come after you after you’ve torn their face off.
“Erik, behind you,” I heard Abi cry.
A long gun went off twice in quick succession. The Vensir looming over me stumbled, both knees blown off. As it fell, I pressed the gun to its neck and blasted off twice. The Vensir fell on the ground with its head lopsided.
“Thanks,” I yelled at Jack.
I turned to salute him and that’s when I saw the shadow. Another Vensir, this one inside my office.
How did it get there? Did they tunnel underground like Amaymon did?
Legolas, I realized.
My mind quickly put together facts, seeing the puzzle as a whole: Legolas was hurt on purpose so I’d let him in. Greede’s call was a distraction while Luke could activate the summoning — and transformation — spell to get his enraged Vensir army. None of us thought to check on Legolas’ wounds after that. We would have found them healed, along with signs of transformation.
Mutated Legolas loomed over Jack, who craned his head at the last second. Legolas lifted his clawed hand and thrust into Jack with all his might, stabbing him all the way through.
“NO!” I screamed.
Legolas withdrew his hand and turned to Abi who spun her AR-15 onto him. He swathed the weapon away. True to her training, she whipped her channel from her hair and Sun Wo Kung became a six foot golden staff. But I knew it was a lost battle. I fought enraged Vensir before — Abi had zero chance.
I had to get there. Even if I could make the distance, I had to literally burst through my wall. Not to mention the barrier I put up slowing me down…
A figure made out of pure metal stepped up behind Legolas and put him in a sleeper hold.
“Sorry about this, buddy,” Jack said. Legolas thrashed around and Abi swung at his knees, bringing the beast down, with Jack still on top of him.
Ten seconds later, Legolas was unconscious and Jack tapped his metal-encased chest, checking for wounds.
“I’m fine,” he said, looking at me and giving me a sheepish grin. “I’ve been practicing.”
I could have kissed him right there and then. See, kids, this is why you practice your magic — so that when a sleeper agent turns into a monster and stabs you, you can tap into your elemental powers and survive.
A wave of heat brought my focus back on the battle. I saw Luke light up, literally, and blast Amaymon with hit and run tactics while flying out of range and letting the demon get swarmed by the monsters.
I growled and felt my rage building up. Switching my gun to my left hand, I unscathed Djinn with my right. The blade blazed azure upon contact.
I roared and charged. Electricity coursed through my veins. Every shot, every strike, was on point. I fought with impunity, cutting through ranks of Vensir. It was too late by the time I realized my body was already covered in shadows, and my mind too ensorcelled by the bloodlust.
One of my bullets bit into Luke’s ankle, forcing him to falter his blazing attacks.
“Amaymon,” I yelled.
The demon roared. The ground beneath me shook and explode upwards. I found myself in the air — along with several confused Vensir — and came face to face with the airborne Luke.
In slow motion, I saw his eyes widen as he realized he was truly and utterly fucked.
A blast of fire. He missed my sword strike and sidewinded out of gun range. A tendril of black shot from my body, wrapping around his neck. As I fell, I will him down.
The tendril tightened and slammed the Pyromancer face first into the ground. Flames burst from him and onto me, but I waved them off with a swipe from Djinn.
He fired. So did I.
My red bullet tore through the flames and exploded into his hand. I watched as his finger and half his left hand exploded in chunks. Luke screamed, fiery blood dripping out of his stump like lava.
“Vensir!” he screamed.
Two of them leapt in between us, claws ready to swipe.
No matter. I was invincible. Hell, I wanted them to hurt me, just so when I kill them I could say it was self-defense.
I wanted blood — I needed it.
Time stopped.
The angel appeared next to me, his kind smile still on his lips as always. Ezekiel looked at the Vensir, then at me again.
“I have retuned,” he said. “And I have been granted permission to use my powers at my own discretion, provided it is solely in your aid, Erik Ashendale.”
He snapped his fingers. Angelic power fell down like a hailstorm, blanketing as far as the eye could see. Every Vensir reverted back to their human form and lay down on the ground, soundly asleep. Luke’s hand grew back, his flames gone.
I could feel my shadows retreating, snarling at the holy power but not quite willing to fight it out.
“This ridiculous battle is over,” Ezekiel said.
Amaymon stepped up next to me. “It’s over when he says it’s over,” he told the angel. “Erik?”
I sheathed my weapons, but kept glaring at Luke, who shakily stood up.
How dare he? How dare he get up again, just to fuck with me one more time?
How dare the angel interfere? I wanted to fight, I needed it. It was a release, one I knew would satisfy me. And he took it all away.
No. Fuck it all.
“Not yet,” I said.
My first punch caught Luke in the jaw and sent him sprawling. I looked behind me, at the demon and the angel, waiting for either of them to make a move. Both remained quiet.
They got the message: this was two guys brawling, not a supernatural affair.
“Get up,” I told Luke.
He snarled. Fire flared from his hands. I grabbed them, despite burning my flesh, and twisted. The sickening sound of breaking bones echoed on the now-quiet street.
Luke kicked me, catching me by surprise.
“Fine,” he said. I felt him summoning power.
Let him, I thought. I was still going to win, that much I knew.
Luke’s form became pure fire.
“This is between you and I,” he said. The roar of the flames echoed in time with his voice. “No one else.”
I willed the shadows back. “Agreed.”
He dodged my first attack and launched a fire ball. Shadows clumped into a shield of sorts and Luke’s attack dissipated into nothing. A tendril pierced his side and he screamed.
/>
“How?” he yelled. “This is pure fire.”
“This is pure Life Magic,” I said. “Rock, paper, scissors, asshole.” Shadows gathered around my fist. “I win.”
The punch sent him to the ground. The flames died out.
But I wasn’t done yet.
I would like to say I had a reason for why I kept punching and kicking him while he was down. I would like to say it sickened me, or that it was necessary. I would like to say I was under the influence of my powers.
Maybe all of that is somewhat true.
But the reality was, I wanted to hurt him. This was the first time I got my hands on an enemy I would match. So Luke took the brunt of all I’ve suffered, and more.
“Perhaps you should stop,” I heard Ezekiel say.
His voice enraged me and the shadow power responded. “Stay out of this!”
Too late I recognized the distortion in my voice. My hands were claws, my skin obsidian, my mouth full of fangs. Bones jutting out of my knuckles, elbows and knees. I knew my eyes were glowing red. Stage one of my powers were the shadows; stage two was a physical transformation.
Usually I was aware of it happening.
“Erik,” Amaymon said. “This ain’t something you can live with. You’re not a killer.”
I punched Luke again. At this point, his face was unrecognizable.
“You don’t know that,” I heard myself say.
I punched Luke again.
I never saw the blow, only felt myself being torn off of Luke. I rolled on the ground, and saw Amaymon standing over the Pyromancer. The earth swallowed him, and I knew Luke was being transported far away underground, to be spat back out god-knows-where.
Amaymon cocked his head.
“You look an awful lot like someone who wants to fight me right now, partner.” His lips widened into a malicious toothy grin. “I gotta tell ya, I’ve been dyin’ to find out which one of us is stronger.”
“The hell are you doing?” Abi’s voice echoed like the crack of a whip. “Both of you, get a grip. We are NOT fighting each other.” She turned to me. “This is not you, Erik. I know you’re hurting, I know you want to get some justice. But not like this. Not this way!”
