Apprentice Wizards of Hope

by Gary J. Davies

  Outside, the Demon Horde had breached the military perimeter and was tearing apart and blasting to bits tanks, vehicles, trees, homes, men, and everything else in their path that lived or had been built by the living. A handful of scattered Wizards led by Sam Putt were having partial success in knocking apart a few of the swarming Demons, but they were badly outnumbered and the knocked apart Demons typically reassembled themselves in less than a minute. A few of the Demon lightning blasts also got through to two of the Wizards, vaporizing them.

  Eric ordered Sam and his remaining men back to the Kelman House, where they focused on strengthening the house protective wards while their leaders watched hundreds of Demons continue to pour out from the Mansion.

  Whistling screams abruptly filled the air momentarily, then dozens of thunderous Earth-shaking explosions of red fire covered the Mansion. The bombardment went on for several minutes as the Wizards in the Kelman House deflected shock after shock and hails of blast thrown rock, soil, homes, and shrapnel. Despite Wizard wards and shielding, windows facing the conflagration were blown to pieces.

  Even before the resulting smoke began to clear, those in the Kelman House could again hear the hideous sound of screaming Demons! The Wizards quickly deadened most of the sound, but it was clear that the bombardment hadn't wiped out the Horde. When Eric caused a stiff breeze to clear away the smoke and dust, the Wizards weren't entirely surprised to see that Grim Mansion was also undamaged; even its glass windows were intact!

  Many Demons had been indeed blasted to bits but were rapidly re-assembling themselves. Already hundreds of surviving Demons were marching away from the Mansion in every direction, looking for more things to destroy. They were probably disappointed that near the Mansion all surrounding neighboring houses had been completely obliterated by human bombs before they could even get to them.

  Wells and his dozen surviving soldiers in the house were shocked. How could anything have survived the tons of missiles and bombs that had rained down on the Mansion? They could only watch in dismay as Demons wondered haphazardly away from the Mansion, destroying everything in their path living or a product of the living. Many were busily tearing up even the remaining stretches of the asphalt street, as well as the few trees growing along it that had somehow survived the bombardment.

  "We're well cloaked or they would be all over us by now," said Eric. "Plus they seem to be in no particular hurry. Notice how they pause to destroy every living thing and work of man before moving on. I am also intrigued that the Mansion survived so well! It suggests that this Demon knows how to ward objects!"

  "In our libraries I have read nothing about Demons being able to ward protective spells," said Rog. "This is not a good development. Perhaps this Demon learned elf methods by absorbing elf thoughts and skills. That is a legend among elves. I could site references."

  "What will stop them all?" asked Wells. "I want to kill them all quick!"

  "Nothing," said Rog. "Nothing known to your material science or to our magic science can quickly kill a Demon Horde. A few Demons might be defeated, not a Horde. They will destroy and kill on this world until they have themselves been overcome by the innate order of this universe. Unfortunately that could be years or even centuries from now, if they have Evil to periodically renew themselves with. Elves have learned how to block them and destroy individuals by focusing Life Energies against them, but it is not what you would term a 'quick' process."

  "Then there's Plan C," said Wells.

  "What's Plan C, Colonel?" asked Sam.

  "It's Top Secret," said Wells.

  "It's a hydrogen bomb," said Eric, after reading the Colonel's thoughts. "A big one."

  "Won't work," said Rog.

  "What?" exclaimed Wells. "How could you know that?"

  "I'm a student of elf ancient history," said Rog. "That was one of the things elves tried millions of years ago. The most that any material weapon does is break a Demon to bits. They then reassemble themselves. They are not creatures of this universe."

  "I didn't know that elves dealt with high-tech," said Wells.

  "We had our high-tech phases in our past," said Rog, "but we matured out of them. Life Energy driven magic was found to be much superior to technology, particularly when it comes to fighting Evil and Demons."

  "It's more powerful?" asked Wells.

  "In some ways; plus it's more civilized and aligned with nature, I suppose you would say," said Rog. "But in this case Demons and Evil are largely not of this universe and can only be obliterated by using Life Energies. Nuclear fission and fusion weapons produce purely physical events that do not generate Life Energies or destroy Evil. They are a form of evil of this universe."

  "But let's not be too negative about our chances," said Eric. "We recently completely obliterated a very powerful Demon and we can do it again. As many times as we have to in order to kill them all!"

  "So what do suggest that we do?" Wells asked.

  "Retreat and stall," said Eric. "Slow them down, save our people, and somehow learn how to defeat and destroy them each one at a time."

  "We can't stay here," said Sam. "The Demons will soon discover and overwhelm us. Yes, an immediate orderly retreat is best."

  "Leave a few cloaked wizards to track the Demons but do not oppose them," said Eric. "We've lost too many good Wizards already. The rest of us will teleport to the evacuation point."

  ****

  CHAPTER 16

  Breakthrough!

  "With regard to your busses there's the good news and the bad news," Lieutenant Barns told Elizabeth, after talking with several of his fellow military people via radio. "The good news is that there are dozens of busses gathered outside of Hope to support evacuations. The bad news is they can't get into Hope. Your flimsy looking fences can’t be cut or broken through by our troops. Even our advance scouts had to climb over them. And besides your fences, you have shaped hills and other natural appearing obstructions that it would take days to build a road through. So we're cut off from the busses. The Mansion lies roughly between the Front Gate and here, and it's spewing Demons that already threaten roads leading between here and the Gate. Busses and other road vehicles are out of the question. We're trapped."

  "We'll make our own exits from Hope then," said Fredrick Kroner, who had teleported from inside Council Hall to help Elizabeth with the evacuation. "The Demons are coming from the central part of town. We'll march our people in three groups to the West, East, and South, gathering folks as we go. We wizards can breach the fences but we’ll have to hike through the hills. The busses can pick up our people just outside of Hope. From there they can be bussed to safety. How far, do you think? Ten miles? Twenty? A hundred?"

  "Ten or twenty for now at least," said Elizabeth. "If we can't stop the Demons within ten-miles of Hope we're probably all screwed. Ok, let's form groups and start moving out. Frank, yes, having a squad of your men escorting each group is a wonderful idea. You military folks have organization and communications that will be useful."

  Barns saluted Elizabeth and withdrew to give his people their marching orders. He was beginning to get used to her knowing his thoughts. He felt a little better about it after Elizabeth explained that mind reading was an uncommon practice felt to be only justifiable in emergencies.

  He fully agreed that a Demon apocalypse qualified as a genuine emergency. He had gotten several reports from the command center outside of Hope that verified that hundreds of Demons had survived the recent bombardment and were spreading out from the Grim Mansion in every direction, killing and destroying everything in their path. These people were right to evacuate themselves.

  People that had to this point stubbornly stayed in their homes were finally fleeing in terror. Wizards, Norms, werewolves, and vampires helped each other, cloaking and avoiding advancing Demons.

  Barns was also getting used to countermanding some of the orders he had been given earlier trough the chain of command. It was expected of him as an American military officer t
o modify tactics based on changes in field conditions. Adaptability was paramount.

  "Good job, Lieutenant!" Colonel Wells told him, when minutes later he and twenty others teleported from the Mansion site and he and Elizabeth gave them a short report. "I want you to continue supporting Mrs. Tuttle and the evacuation. Meanwhile I will focus on the Demons, along with our science team and our Hope allies."

  "Our science team has been conferring with Mr. Soone, Crane told Wells when the Colonel rejoined his ELF team. We feel that the Demons definitely have weaknesses that can be exploited."

  "Most Demons aren't very smart," began Dr. Smith. "They behave via what seems like instinct and reaction to stimuli, rather than response to cognition. They can perhaps be baited and fooled. And perhaps best of all, they usually act as individuals rather than in groups. However they are all attracted to another Demon's excitement."

  "They essentially get tired when they use too much energy at once and are usually slow," continued Dr. Marx. "They usually walk and almost never levitate themselves to fly. They can teleport but that is highly energy intensive for them and they seldom do it. Soone says they feed on a steady supply of energies from Evil that is either nearby or within themselves. Only the larger, more powerful ones can sometimes absorb raw energies of this universe.”

  "So hold on!" said Wells. "They don't feed on Earthly stuff? Not even on living things?"

  "Correct," said Soone. "They don't have digestive systems or consume Earthly substances of any kind. They have an overpowering instinct to destroy life, especially sentient life, but generally they must subsist on Evil brought with them from the Void within their own bodies or as separate inanimate bits of Evil."

  "And that's a damn long logistics line!" said Wells. "So these things will eventually simply starve to death?"

  "Yes, but perhaps not before they kill all life on Earth," noted Soone. "They have enough Evil within their own bodies to subsist for centuries at modest levels of energy use, but they must draw on other Evil to support periods of exceptional energy use."

  "We brought down the first Demon by destroying the Evil deposit it fed on," noted Rog. "I think it is their greatest weakness."

  "That is valuable intel," said Wells. "What else?"

  "They can be blown or cut to pieces that can then be totally destroyed bit by bit," said Dr. Phelps. "However, they can rejoin themselves together or grow a new Demon from each piece, if they have enough Evil substance on hand as raw material to draw upon."

  "The first Demon blew itself up intending its pieces to revive within a pool of Evil, but we were able to destroy the Evil along with the pieces," said Rog.

  "That all sounds promising," said Wells. "Now let's come up with some battle tactics from all that or we'll soon all be up over our eyeballs in Demons! Oh, and we need to eat something ourselves before we collapse from lack of food, and work in shifts that give us periods of rest."

  "I'll pop some food here for us," said Soone, before disappearing. How he could do that without producing a popping sound none of the others knew.

  Half an hour later as he finished a sandwich Wells wasn't surprised to receive a secure phone call from his superior in the Pentagon, General Winfred Ismith. "I'm with the President now considering Plan C, Wells. What is your status, assessment, and recommendation?"

  "Condition Beta," said Wells immediately, which was code for a dangerous situation but one that didn't require immediate escalation. That meant no Plan C, at least for now. There was hope! Condition Alpha would have meant everything was fine and there wasn't a worry in the world, while Condition Gamma would have meant the end of the World, and no doubt about it.

  Ismith gave a sigh of relief, smiled, and signaled 'OK' to the President and his staff.

  "Unfortunately the deadly visitor refused our overtures for peace and immediately attacked us," said Wells. "We already have over 300 casualties, mostly our Army people, and mostly dead."

  "So the Demon is definitely hostile," said the President. "What about the Hope people?"

  "The friendly talented citizens of Hope are aiding us in every way they can," continued Wells, "as are their very talented visitors from afar. But the deadly enemy forces have multiplied, as I am sure you have seen from drone surveillance. Plan B was useless. Conventional weapons at best only slow the enemy, and do not kill them. Further, the visitors from afar insist that Plan C would only destroy our own tactical measures that we are now trying to develop. I repeat: Plan C would be counter-productive. Our science team concurs."

  "How much confidence do you have that your tactical measures will be effective?" the President asked.

  "Fifty-fifty, I'd say, Sir," said Wells. "If we don't have effective tactics developed today Plan C should be reconsidered. Use troop and drone observations to independently confirm progress. And I request more men and firepower be kept at the ready outside the town to try out on the Demons and to contain any Demons that breach our forces in town. Combinations of conventional weapons and wizardry are expected to result in the best tactics."

  “What about bio-hazards?” asked the President.

  “Minimal,” said Wells, “though we’re keeping an eye on that issue. By the way, werewolves and vampires are of course human mutants just as the Wizards are, so there is no danger of their conditions being spread by them biting people. Those sorts of rumors need to be combated.”

  “Agreed,” said the President.

  “So in sum I am hopeful,” said Wells.

  "What of long term issues, Wells?" asked Ismith.

  "Very favorable, if we can but survive the current problem."

  "Very well, Wells. You remain in charge of our efforts, at least for now,” said the General. “Later, if danger spreads beyond the town, we may decide on abrupt implementation of Plan C. If so, there will likely be no time for your command to withdraw safely."

  "Yes, that was always understood," said Wells.

  "Good luck, Ed," said the General, as he signed off.

  "Keep me advised, Winfred," said the President, as he rose to leave. "I like better odds than fifty-fifty, especially when it might come to nuking our own citizens. See that everything possible is done to improve those odds."

  ****

  Army attack drones and helicopters constantly flew over the slowly advancing Demons, blasting as many Demons to bits as they could with super-accurate 'smart' missiles, bombs, and cannon-fire. The Demons made easy targets; they usually didn't run or dodge or even acknowledge the presence of their attackers. The attacks didn't permanently destroy any Demons, but it cost the monsters time and energy to reassemble themselves.

  The military also brought to bear an assortment of even more exotic weapons, including directed electromagnetic emissions of various wavelengths. The laser, microwave, and x-ray cannons did nothing but invite deadly Demon attention. Demons could strike at targets within half a mile with lightning blasts that destroyed several aircraft and land vehicles including tanks. An enormous awkward railgun mounted on a monster-truck got off only one shot that knocked a single menacing Demon to pieces temporarily before getting torn to bits itself by Demon claws. Acids and other chemicals had no effect, nor did napalm- fed fire. Water dumped from airplanes to quench the fires was also ignored by the monsters. Liquid nitrogen froze their surroundings for a short time but had no effect on the Demons themselves.

  Aside from blowing the Demons to bits, one simple tactic devised by Dr. Phelps was found to significantly delay the advance of the demons. Tons of hay from nearby farms was dropped on the monsters and they always paused to destroy every bit of it before moving on. Phelps called it the 'give them what they want' tactic. They even enticed many of the Demons to retreat all the way back to the Mansion by dropping tons of hay over the building.

  Still the Demons slowly advanced, destroying houses and everything else in their path. More than anything else, their insistence on taking the time to completely obliterate the houses slowed their advance. Most homes were strongly warded by
their Wizard owners. The observing humans and elves suspected that the Life Energy powered wards both attracted and slowed the Demons. They also suspected that in the open countryside beyond Hope the Demons would advance much faster. But first they would completely destroy Hope; every brick, scrap of wood, and resident.

  The High School/Municipal Center drew hundreds of Demons to it. The monsters seemed to enjoy destroying every bit of the huge structure. Army analysts estimated that this delayed the Demon advance for more than two hours.

  Meanwhile the allied troops, several teams of Wizards, Army personnel, and elves tried out the battle tactics that they had brainstormed together. Knowing that it would be suicidal to attack multiple Demons at once, they decided to attack outliers that were at the advancing fringe of Demons. As a plus, those monsters tended to be the faster, smaller ones, though their brutish power and appetite for death and destruction was still enormous.

  "Over here!" shouted Sam Putt, to distract a Demon towards himself. This one looked like an eight-foot tall flightless carnivorous bird, with long legs ending in huge clawed feet, a fat middle that especially glowed from Evil, and giant beaked-head atop a long thick neck. It could run as fast as a man in short spirts but would then inevitably lose its balance and fall down. It preferred to walk slowly enough to keep its balance as it tore things to pieces with its beak. Non-living human artifacts it tore, crushed, and burned. Any living matter it encountered was reduced to steaming sludge or smoldering ash.

  It had been methodically tearing a Ford pickup truck to pieces when the team led by Sam found it. The front bumper and hood sections were gone, torn off as though by a giant can-opener. The engine was itself half gone; the engine block munched away like it was soft cheese instead of solid metal designed to endure the heat and stress of gasoline combustion, plunging pistons, and whirling drive-shaft. Around the truck irregular chunks of charred metal were scattered, droppings from the truck-devouring Demon. The effort was taking it several minutes. Maybe they should drop junk-cars on these things to show them down instead of hay, Sam thought. He'd have to pass that idea on to the Colonel if he survived long enough to do so.