by John Corwin
I couldn't speak. Tears of joy blurred my vision and I laughed with delight. "Yes, yes, and again, yes!" I rubbed the moisture from my eyes.
Tyler slid the ring onto my finger, took me in his arms, and kissed me long and hard. "Love you, Em."
"I love you, Tyler." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. When we at last pulled away, I saw Mum wrapped in Dad's big arms.
"Well, I suppose we should get this unpleasantness over with," Mum said, wiping at her red eyes. "I, for one, am ready to enjoy a vacation."
Dad chuckled. "It's been way too long."
It was time to go.
Tyler practiced giving me a piggyback ride by running down the hall to the levitators while my parents hurried to keep up. So long as I wrapped my legs around his waist, it worked remarkably well.
We met George's small army in the garage where everyone piled into large metal boxes.
George pointed to one such box where Kanaan sat. "You'll take that slider."
I didn't have a chance to ask him why they were called sliders.
Once everyone was situated, George signaled for us to depart. The outward appearance of the boxes flickered and suddenly they resembled large helicopters, complete with spinning blades, though they made no sound. They lifted off and slid quickly up the ramp, out of the barn and into the air. The pilot touched a button and the slider emitted a loud whumping noise, much like a normal helicopter.
"So many toys, so little time," Tyler mused.
We traversed the city quickly. My nerves fluttered one moment then tightened into a knot so hard, I could barely breathe. I wondered how many would be killed in this little war. I wondered if tomorrow the dawn might greet a demon overlord and a destroyed city.
Before I could give it much more thought, the slider's artificial sounds went silent and we flew low over houses and past a tract of crumbling red brick warehouses. Moments later, the transport reached a clearing near a small asphalt road. I noticed we were the only transport to set down in this location. The pilot touched a button and the outside of the slider went invisible, much like George's car.
We disembarked and gathered next to Kanaan who seemed to be our de-facto team leader.
"We wait for the Templars to engage the enemy from the east, then we will approach from the south," he said.
That explains where the others went.
I had more to ask him when I noticed a low-flying chopper—a real one—zip overhead and toward the cemetery. Sirens wailed in the distance.
A voice emanated from the pendant Kanaan wore on his collar. "This is Agent Walker. Nom police forces are entering the combat zone."
Explosions boomed in the distance, presumably as Vallaena's people destroyed the construction vehicles.
"Why are the police here?" I said. "Did they see through the obfuscation spell?"
"Oh, shit." Tyler gave me an open-mouthed look. "They must have found my map."
I wasn't entirely upset. If the police were firing on the demon forces, we might have a chance with the extra manpower. "Detective Long is in for quite a surprise."
"It would appear we have double the diversion," Kanaan said. "It's time to move out."
My mother unslung her bow and my father unsheathed a large sword. Kanaan jogged toward the forest, and we followed him toward battle.
From outside the obfuscation zone, the cemetery looked utterly peaceful. From the sounds of gunfire, shouts, and the whumping of at least two helicopters, it sounded as though all hell was breaking loose.
Well, not just yet, if we can help it.
Stepping through the warded perimeter was like entering a gateway to another dimension.
Black SWAT vans lay smoking on their sides while armored police with automatic weapons fired on the horde of encroaching demon forces who fired back with weapons of their own, including the machine-gun emplacements. There were so many people, I couldn't fathom where Karak and the others had found them. Surely, they couldn't all be possessed.
My senses told me otherwise. So many of the people here were controlled by infernal spirits, the sensation nearly overwhelmed me. The presences of Karak, Abaddon, Belhor, and the unknown fourth demon lord bloated in my mind like rotting corpses.
I spotted Karak's large form to our right. He watched Kassus and Drang blood the final parts of the pattern.
"If we can take out those two, the pattern won't be completed," I said.
Kanaan looked at the enemies between us and them and nodded. "Agreed."
It didn't take long before a group of possessed saw us coming across the barren earth and came at us. Victoria's bow twanged, and most of them fell with arrows in their throats. Those that reached us fell to my father's sword.
Mum tugged the arrows from the fallen, tearing the gruesome wounds even wider. I grimaced as she wiped the blood, gristle, and flesh from the sharp tips onto the clothing of the deceased.
"Never waste good arrows," she said.
It occurred to me I didn't know my mother well at all. But I couldn't help but admire her. She was certainly a warrior.
A group of four enemies approached, this time more cautiously and with automatic guns. I prayed the Templar armor worked as advertised. Shots rang out. I flinched and waited for impact. Instead, the air before us rippled and warped slugs fell harmlessly to the ground. Kanaan held a staff before him, eyes steady with concentration.
The possessed seemed to realize the guns were no good and instead drew swords. Kanaan released the magic shield, compacted his staff, and slid it into a holster. He drew the two wands and waited for the enemy to reach him.
I came to my senses and identified our new opponents. "Those are demon knights," I warned him.
Arrows sang through the air, but the knights swatted them easily with their swords. In an instant, they were upon us. Tyler caught a sword slash meant for me and my father deflected a thrust aimed my mother.
Kanaan flipped over a swinging blade and jammed a wand into the ear of a knight. The man's skin glowed with an inner light. He screamed, and his eyes exploded from his skull. Before the next knight could defend himself, Kanaan shouted a word, and searing beams of light cleaved the enemy's head from his shoulders.
The other two knights fell back, eyes wide with fear. Kanaan offered them no respite. Ducking, dodging, and weaving between their thrusts, he cast glowing ropes of energy around their feet and jerked them out from beneath them. No sooner had they hit the ground than Kanaan flipped through the air. He landed gracefully on one knee between them and simultaneously stabbed his wands into their eyes.
Gouts of fire poured from demon knights' mouths and their host bodies died, screaming in agony.
Gray souls unwrapped from the corpses and wailed away into the sky.
Mum nocked another arrow and sent it flying at Kassus. Karak leapt in the way and the arrow plunged into his chest. He didn't so much as wince. The demon lord jerked the shaft from his body and bared his teeth. Not a single drop of blood stained his shirt.
"I will give no quarter to the enemies of Domathus," he bellowed. "Flee now, or forfeit your lives."
"You master's plans for Eden will destroy it," Kanaan said in a calm voice. "We cannot allow that to happen."
"This world is already laid waste by the mortals," Karak said. "Man preys upon man and slaughters the beasts of the land until they are gone. Mankind has grown ever more imperfect, ever more cancerous, ever more expendable. The Seraphim will destroy these weak people and then all the realms will fall."
"We're stronger than you think!" I shouted back. "We will defend Eden. If you complete your plans, you will make it easier for the Seraphim to win!"
Karak strode closer and closer. "Mankind will be perfected under the yoke of Domathus."
Tyler gripped me and pulled me back. My father and mother paced backward with us. Only Kanaan stood fast.
"Now we hear the truth," I shouted. "Domathus doesn't want to save us. He wants to rule us like the Seraphim."
The demon lord blurred toward Kanaan. The Blue Cloak dodged, spun, and stabbed his wands into him. Energy crackled along Karak's body, but he showed no pain. He drove a fist toward Kanaan, but the man easily dodged it and continued his attacks. Their dance of death turned to a blur of movement.
"We've got to do something," Mum said.
"Our physical attacks don't do anything to him," I said.
Tyler stared at the fight. "We need Vallaena."
I suddenly remembered our objective. "We've got to stop Kassus and Drang while Kanaan has Karak busy." I saw the two battle mages stand up and inspect the pattern.
Mum loosed an arrow. Her targets, apparently thinking Karak had us occupied didn't see it coming. Kassus went down with a shaft protruding from his back. Drang spun and saw the second arrow in flight. He shielded himself and it ricocheted into the ground.
"You fucking bitch!" He shouted, and unleashed a volley of energy discs. I tried to duck, but my feet tangled. A dark figure in my peripheral vision rammed into me, sending me tumbling to the ground. I looked up and saw Tyler dodge to the side. He blurred forward and slashed down with his sword. Drang's hand came off at the wrist. The mage screamed and fell to his knees, blood spurting from the wound.
Another quick slash parted the man's head from his neck and it thudded to the ground.
An agonized roar rose next to me. I turned and saw Dad, cradling Mum's limp body in his arms. My legs turned to jelly and I nearly fell to the ground. She'd saved me and taken the brunt of Drang's attack.
"No," I whimpered. "No!" I crawled to her on my knees.
Blood poured from large gashes in my mother's armor. I pressed my hands to one, vainly trying to stop the blood. Her hand reached feebly to my cheek. She smiled. "You make me very proud, Emily." She choked and coughed up blood.
"Somebody help!" Dad roared. "Help!"
But there was no one to help.
"Patrick…" Mum coughed weakly. "Always love you." Her body sagged.
My mother was gone.
"The demonculus!" Tyler yelled.
I couldn't move. My mind couldn't grasp what had just happened. Numbly, I turned and saw a man in white robes touch the diagram and fall to the ground dead.
The pattern was complete.
People in white robes herded dozens of bound people into the center while the battle raged all around the pattern. Police fired their weapons. A helicopter smashed into the trees in a ball of fire. Vallaena and David in full demon form battled the demon lords in a futile effort to stop the summoning about to happen. I saw a man in a robe similar to the ones Kassus and Drang wore, raise his staff and chant.
Somewhere deep inside me emerged an immense burning anger. Hatred poured into me, but there was nothing I could do. I was a weak mortal who could do nothing to save her world.
Chapter 30
"No!" I rose to my feet and turned toward Karak. I am not weak! I am not powerless! I ran toward the battling Karak and Kanaan.
Tyler grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?"
I jerked free. "The only thing I can do." I ran closer and shouted at Kanaan. "Get him into the pattern!"
"Emily, no!" Tyler shouted behind me.
The Blue Cloak dove free of Karak. In one smooth movement, he sheathed his wands and unholstered his staffs, flicking them out to full length. He pounded them to the ground and a web of energy shot toward the demon lord.
Karak threw up an arm to shield himself, but the web caught him and flung him into the pattern. I ran after him and leapt atop his chest. He reared back a fist, which would surely kill me in one blow.
"Karak-ta-thul-shrokcanthuliostomentoman, you are mine!" I felt his nauseating power flooding against my senses. I let it wash over me, drilling my consciousness deep into him. The demon lord seemed unable to move. I didn't know if it was from the shock of hearing his name, or if I actually had control. I couldn't afford the time to think it through.
My senses wormed through a morass of bound souls and found what they protected—his demon spirit. I grasped the bucking, swirling energy with all my might and shouted his name once more.
"Karak-ta-thul-shrokcanthuliostomentoman, I command you back to Haedaemos." My senses gripped his spirit tighter. "I command you to return!"
He bucked and bellowed, but his limbs seemed frozen. His physical form began to lose cohesion, gray energy twisting and turning like snakes seeking escape. I felt the bound souls. Felt their struggle. Felt their intense fear.
"You are free," I said, and pulled with all my might.
A great glowing orange mist pulled loose, and the souls howled away, shrieking like banshees even as the glow from the pattern grew brighter and brighter around me. I heard a deep rumbling growl that made the very earth tremble. I looked up and saw a massive creature rising from the depths in the center of the pattern. Hot wind howled around me, whipping my hair against my face. Lightning exploded against the ground. Tornadoes ripped the earth, spinning it into a cloud of dust and debris.
I was almost out of time.
Holding onto the shifting spirit of the demon lord, I spoke once again. "Karak-ta-thul-shrokcanthuliostomentoman, I command you home."
His howl of outrage echoed inside my head. The pattern beneath me tore open and I looked into a burning maw. It sucked the orange mist inside, tearing it from my grasp. I felt myself being drawn after it and clawed desperately at the red earth. My nails dug gouges into the dirt, but my body slid inexorably toward the portal.
Strong arms grasped my arms and suddenly, I was ripped free of Hell's grasp. Tyler raced for the edge of the pattern, dragging me behind him. We reached the outside of the circle and fell free of the consuming gravity.
I turned onto my back and saw the spirit form of Overlord Domathus raise his clawed hands to the sky. He bellowed, empty sockets in his horned head burning with outrage. The portal to Haedaemos crashed shut. The pattern exploded in light and a vortex of ash and flame sucked Domathus back into his world.
Thunder exploded. The shockwave hurled me backwards. I rolled to a stop, face down in the dirt.
The world seemed to pause.
I rolled over and saw souls unraveling themselves from the demon lords they'd sustained. The gray forms streaked into the sky and vanished. The glowing spirits held their humanoid forms for a moment before the earth swallowed them whole, leaving us with only the echoes of their cries.
The surviving possessed fell to the ground as their demon spirits suffered the same fates as their lords.
The battle was over.
I climbed wearily to my feet and noticed Tyler, covered in blood, rising from the ground. His armor bore rips and tears, and blood welled from a cut on his arm.
"Are you okay, Em?" he asked.
I looked at the still form of my mother. At the tears in my father's eyes.
I shook my head. "No, I'm not." And then I lost all control. Tears flooded my eyes as I ran to my fallen mother. I buried my head in Dad's chest and let the sorrow take me.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Tyler said, running a hand through my hair.
I heard a ragged, tired voice speak. "Tyler Rock, you're under arrest."
Looking up, I saw Detective Long in a torn business suit, looking at us with haunted eyes and a pistol aimed our way. He looked like a man trying to rationalize everything he'd witnessed, and yet here he was trying to carry out his false duty. He was a bloody fool.
Tyler raised an eyebrow and walked over to him. "Am I?"
The detective trained the gun on him and his resolve seemed to settle. "Turn around—"
Tyler blurred past him, chopped the man's wrist and knocked the gun to the ground. He held the detective by his collar. "Tell my brother, Brandon, he can go to hell." With that, he punched the Detective Long in the face with a loud crunch. He released him, and the man dropped bonelessly to the ground.
A grin spread on Tyler's face. It quickly vanished when he looked back at me. His face sagged with worry. There were no words to be said.
/> My heart shattered. The shards lodged like knives in my chest.
It felt as though I sat with my mother and father for hours, hot tears streaming down my face in an endless river. She died for me. She died for me.
Guilt clawed at my heart.
More Custodians arrived and took the surviving police into custody while Templars removed the surviving host bodies. A team of healers placed Mum under a preservation spell and left her where she was while they did the same for the other casualties.
George spoke with a group of Custodians. He looked at me several times and walked over after finishing with them. "I am truly sorry for your loss, Miss Glass." He bore a number of cuts and bruises, and a section of his hair looked as though it had been burnt down to the scalp.
I wiped the tears from my face. I am my mother's daughter. Somehow, I found the willpower to temporarily cope with the loss. I had seen the souls bound by the demons fly away into the sky. Surely, they'd gone to a better place. Surely, my mother was there now.
I took a deep breath and nodded. "How many people did we lose?"
"Five Daemos, eighteen Templars." George looked at the smoking wreckage of the police helicopter. "Twelve police officers are dead, and we took another eight into custody."
"How do you plan to deal with them?"
"We'll perform some minor memory alterations and stage a scene."
The area looked as though it had been hit by a bomb. "Why not just use memory alteration all the time instead of making people go to orientation?"
"Don't confuse alteration with a mind wipe." A healer stepped next to George and began examining his wounds. "We will take small parts of their memories about today and alter them ever so slightly so they can rationalize what happened. We've had far more success with such procedures than mind wipes, which tend to raise more questions. Police are typically far more inquisitive than their civilian counterparts, and if this entire group lost the past few hours' worth of memories, some would never stop looking until they found answers."
