by Jason Cheek
An unintelligible scream came from the injured Scourge as more agents and officers rushed to their aid. A mass of bodies slammed into the creature as men piled themselves onto the enraged beast, bringing it to the ground once again. Rolling to its back, the Scourge tried to crush the crazy berserker causing it so much pain as it flung the men away effortlessly. As the creature rolled once more to its feet, she saw Sergeant O’Reilly slam into the monster like maniac. Wrapping his arms around the Scourge’s broad chest, he body slammed the creature into the ground with all of his strength.
AAAAAEEEIIIIIIIIIII
Sergeant O’Reilly’s screamed in defiance as the fanged maw opened to rip his face off as Beth stepped forward. Slamming her boot into the creature’s ugly face, she shot the Scourge at point blank range between its glowing red eyes.
Breathing deeply, she looked down in shock at the dead beast as Sergeant O’Reilly rolled onto his back with a sigh of relief. Smiling, Beth held out her hand to the gruff man. Accepting the proffered hand, Sergeant O’Reilly pulled himself to his feet, clasping her shoulder with grudging respect.
“That was a nice tackle Sergeant.”
He returned her smile with one of his own.
“That was some mighty fine shooting, Detective.”
Suddenly, a muffled voice sounded next to them. “If the two of you are finished congratulating each other, I could use some help here!”
They both jumped, startled at hearing Agent Moss’s words coming from underneath the corpse. Anxiously, they quickly worked together with several other survivors to haul the dead creature off of him. Rolling the heavy body away, they both took an arm helping the agent to his feet as Agent Moss looked around stunned.
“Did we win?”
For a second, they all looked around at the bloody battlefield in awe. Already, Beth could see Susan, Deanna and several other women moving about as they looked for wounded men in need of healing. Not seeing Startüm anywhere around, she suddenly had a sinking feeling that something was horribly wrong. Anxiously, she began looking about as Agent Moss looked at her questioning.
“What’s wrong Detective?”
“Where the hell is Startüm?”
“He was right…” Agent Moss’s voice died away as he looked around confused. “He was right here!”
“What the hell is he doing way over there?”
Following the Sergeant’s pointing arm, Beth saw Startüm sprinting towards Trapper Nelson’s with his Katanas still in his hands. Speaking more to herself than to any of the men around her, she muttered under her breath.
“What the hell is he up to?”
Quickly, her eyes scanned the darkness ahead for where he was running as a cold pit of fear began forming in her stomach. Something wasn’t right! Squinting, she finally saw the black cloaked priestess that he was chasing after bee lining for the green glowing circle.
“I thought we killed that bitch!”
Seeing what she saw, Agent Moss exhaled suddenly.
“That can’t be good!”
Finally seeing what they were talking about, the Sergeant’s exclaimed slowly.
“Oh shit!”
She watched knowing he wasn’t going to make it in time. Howling, Startüm raised his blade above his head leaping into the air just as the blacked robed creature fell forward, collapsing into the fiery green circle at the center of Trapper Nelson’s. Twisting its bleeding body around, Beth heard the priestess’s hissing speech as it called out towards the dark sky.
“ Destroyer te accerso!“ (Destroyer I summon you!)
* * *
For a moment, Beth heard her own screaming voice as if she were standing outside of her own body observing in the third person. All around her, men and women were falling to their knees crying out in terror as a tremendous dread overwhelmed them. The darkness seemed to coalesce above the burning green circle as a humongous dark shape suddenly shot from the sky. A second later, a bright large flashing shape slammed into the ground in front of the black robed priestess, blocking Startüm’s strike.
A loud bonging sound rang out as she saw Startüm slam to a stop in mid-air. For a moment, he seemed to be suspended against the massive metal shape, before dropping to the ground like a rock. The darkness slowly seemed to ripple away, like a cloak, uncovering the creature standing before the priestess.
What she saw made the blood freeze in her veins! Beth’s consciousness slammed back into her own body, and for a moment she thought she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, but her lungs suddenly spasmed, forcibly making her suck in more air as she raggedly gasped for oxygen. The shape materializing out of the darkness in front of Startüm as he rolled back to his feet was massive. Judging the size in comparison to Startüm height, she guesstimated that the creature had to be at least three times larger than him, if not more!
For a second, her mind balked at accepting the reality of what she was seeing. The thing was dark gray in color standing on two massive black hooves. Huge corded muscles ran up each shoulder into an oversized neck, with a large humanoid head that had two glowing red eyes sitting atop a snouted fanged maw. A top the creature’s massive head sat to large bull-like horns. Leaning forward, it heaved on the shaft to the oversized two headed battleaxe buried into the ground at the priestess’s feet. Humongous bat wings flared out on either side of its back as it ripped the glowing red rune covered battleaxe into the air.
In her heart, Beth knew the creature only could be a demon! In every way, the beast fit the proverbial description of a ‘Devil’ that had survived throughout ancient human history all the way into today’s modern era. In that heartbeat, a sudden epiphany came to her as she looked upon the terrible being. Only a truly evil race could have affected humanity on such a primitive level to be still part of their racial memory for her to have recognized the creature for what it was so readily.
Suddenly, she felt herself begin to truly believe in the word of Ukko!
Watching in horror, she saw the demon tower over Startüm as it swung the battleaxe high above its head. Leaning forward, the muscles of its chest and neck tensed as its massive jaws opened wide!
RRRAAAAAAOOOOOORRRRRRRR
The shockwave from the demon’s challenging roar was physically visible as it literally blasted through the air.
The roaring sound was more powerful than the first time Beth had heard the noise from a distance, when they'd first landed on the island earlier that evening. This time, the pain was so intense that it slammed into her like a fist, making her stomach heave in agony.
Collapsing to her knees, she began puking out green bile as her guts emptied onto the ground.
For a moment, Beth thought her eardrums would burst from the intensity of the sound, when the noise suddenly stopped. Gradually, the horrible pain in her chest slowly began to fade away as she heard Startüm’s voice call out.
“Ukko gi meg styrke til å kjempe denne djevelen av avgrunnen!” (Ukko give me the strength to fight this devil of the abyss!)
Forcing her head up, she saw a ray of golden light shining down from the heavens onto Startüm as he screamed out his prayer to Ukko. The devil’s challenging roar suddenly turned into a bellow of anger as the creature momentarily backed away from the golden glow.
When the light died away, the creature immediately lunged at Startüm in a lightning fast attack, swinging its battleaxe in a whistling arc.
As if in slow motion, Beth saw the creature’s rippling muscles as it struck before she could scream out a warning. Instead of running away or dodging, she saw Startüm raise both glowing Katanas before him.
Flexing his arms, Startüm caught the edge of the weapon low on his blades as his voice rang out.
“KANSKJE!”
Unbelievably, Beth watched as Startüm stopped the massive battleaxe in mid swing!
Red glowing runes met blue in a blinding explosion as the weapons sparked like a blown transformer where they touched. The corded muscles in the demon’s arms bulged from strain
as it sought to physically overpower the annoying creature that dared to defy it, but Startüm stood before the beast unmoving, meeting the otherworldly creature’s power head-on.
Bellowing in rage, the demon swung its battleaxe back into the air as it struck at Startüm with a long clawed hand.
Stepping forward, Startüm spun around slashing down with all of his might with his right handed blade, while stabbing out with his left. The powerful strike cleanly sliced through the demon’s right hand, taking it off at the wrist, while the other blade pierced the demon’s knee cap. Twisting his blades free, Startüm spun back around to face the creature once more.
OOOUUUFFFF
This time, Beth did scream as the beast’s large cloven hoof slammed into Startüm’s chest in a powerful kick. She heard the meaty impact of the strike all the way across the field as Startüm shot through the air like a cannon ball. An explosion of stone and debris flew into the air a second later as he blasted through a stone wall to one of the log cabins Trapper Nelson built so long ago.
Standing to its full height, the demon threw its head back bellowing in triumph!
Shaking free of the paralysis that had held her, Beth grabbed Agent Moss and Sergeant O’Reilly by their shoulders. Shaking them until their wide fearful eyes jerked away from the evil beast and the titanic battle, she yelled to be heard over the sounds of the demon’s battleaxe demolishing the log hut that Startüm had disappeared into.
“We’ve got to do something to help him!”
For a second, both men stood frozen in terror at the thought of facing the terrible monster on the battlefield, but slowly they fought against the overwhelming fear in their minds. Beth well understood the internal battle they were both fighting, having just overcome the same terrible fear herself. Relentlessly, she laid into them.
“Startüm’s the only chance we’ve got to kill that thing. We have to find a way to help him!” Tearing their eyes away from the humongous demon, they met her gaze squarely as they shook themselves free from the effects of the demon’s dreadful aura. Standing up straighter, Agent Moss spoke gruffly.
“Let’s do it!”
Turning around, he began calling out orders to the men as Sergeant O’Reilly joined him, his voice lashing out at the frozen men.
“What do you think this is, a Saturday night special? Move your asses! We’ve got work to do!”
As the men began gearing up, Beth searched for arrows for her bow among the dead Scourge, when suddenly she saw Vanessa and Stephanie. The women’s attentions were totally focused on healing the wounded. Looking around, she saw more women moving about the battlefield tending the injured.
“Beth!”
Turning around at the sound her name, she saw Susan and Commander Harris trotting in her direction with a group of exhausted men and women. Looking closer, she realized the Chief was with them. Worried, she looked closely at Chief Darden’s face. He was looking decidedly older as if tonight had permanently aged him. A second later, Agent Moss and Sergeant O’Reilly ran up with their men as the Chief stopped in front of her.
“Susan has a plan she thinks will help us assist Startüm in killing that demon, but we’re going to need everyone’s help if we are going to have any chance to pull it off!” Looking around at the injured the women were helping, the Chief’s face hardened for a moment. “We also need to get these wounded out of here.”
Without asking, Agent Moss stepped forward.
“Agent Wilcox!”
“Sir!”
Pointing out nine other men in the circle, he continued.
“You men will be in charge of removing the wounded from the battlefield. Take them to the edge of the woods nearest the river. Beta Team should still be on the river. See if you can signal them for help.”
Giving the agent an approving nod, the Chief continued addressing the group as Laura and Deanna came running up.
“The rest of us will break up in groups of four. If Startüm goes down, we will charge the demon.”
Seeing the men blanched at his words, he chuckled grimly.
“I don’t expect us to take that thing down. I don’t believe that’s even possible for a second, but we can be a distraction.” Looking around the circle of men and women, his gray eyes looked at them earnestly. “We cannot let that young man die out there. If we lose him, we’re all dead. It’s as simple as that!”
Beth could feel the men’s determination as they quickly began dividing up into teams. Within moments, they were all running across the field as the battle raged before them. Beth followed closely behind the other women as they neared the edge of the battlefield. They stopped in a grove of trees near the center of Trapper Nelson’s as Susan whispered loudly.
“We need to be prepared to move quickly if we are going to help him!”
She had been doing her best to ignore the battle, but now that they were close to the action she only could watch helplessly as Startüm staggered back to his feet from where the demon had bashed him through another solid log hut. Grasping his Katana with both hands, the tip of the blade dragged on the ground as he turned to face the creature once more. He’d lost his wolf helmet sometime during the fight, and even from this distance. Beth could see his face was a bloody mess. As the faint golden glow of healing energy began to surround him, she suddenly realized what was wrong. He was running out of energy, and was being hurt quicker then he could recover!
The demon charged once again, this time with a heavy limping gait from where Startüm had cleaved off the lower part of one of its legs earlier in the fight. Coming within striking range, the demon swung the oversized weapon, bellowing in triumph at the sight of its weakening foe.
Whipping his blade up, Startüm manage to stop the battleaxe once again as the force of the blow drove him stumbling backwards. Not slowing down, the demon rushed forward lashing out with its last cloven hoof as Startüm leapt into the air slashing horizontally.
CRACK
The blade cleaved off the leg just below the knee as the kick connected with Startüm, blasting him through the air like a home run. As the demon fell onto its clawed hands and stumps, Beth saw Startüm crash into the ground not thirty feet away from where they hid. This time, he did not get up again. Instead, his broken body lay unmoving as Susan’s shocked eyes met her own fearing the worst. Suddenly, jumping to her feet, Susan ran forward yelling over her shoulder.
“Follow me!”
The three of them ran after Susan as Commander Harris voice bellowed from the other side of Trapper Nelson’s.
“Company! Charge!”
Ignoring the screams of the men as they attacked the demon behind them, she slid into the small crater where Startüm had come to a stop next to the other women. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him. Bleeding from the eyes and nose, his face was battered almost beyond recognition. Quickly, she joined the other women as they struggle to lift him out of the hole. After straining for a minute without any results, Beth decided he was just too heavy for them to move. Susan must have realized that simple fact too, because a second later she stopped them all with a wave of her hand.
“We’ll have to help him here!”
Kneeling next to him, Susan placed his head on her thighs as she laid her hands on either side of his head. Quickly, she explained what she wanted them to do.
“You will need to be touching him for this to work.”
Beth placed her hands next to the other ladies against Startüm’s face, since it was the only part not covered in armor. Closing her eyes, she began concentrating.
“Now focus your energy, picture sending your power flowing into Startüm as if you were charging a battery.”
Hurriedly, Beth cleared her mind listening to Susan’s directions. It was only last night, but it felt like a year ago when Startüm had shown her how to heal using her own energy. Instead of using her power to heal, this time, she pictured her energy flowing into him as if she were filling an empty cup.
There was a part of B
eth’s mind that still babbled that this was all crazy, but she ignored the little voice. Up until now, she would never have called herself religious. Her mother had been a Baptist while she’d lived, and her Father an abusive alcoholic. She’d refused to have any further contact with the man. Not since the time she came home from college for Christmas, and he tried to rape her. All of her life, she’d never felt comfortable with religion or God, although, after spending so many years on the force, she did believe in Evil. In fairness, there was Good too, albeit not terribly much in her experience. It was always easier for people to hurt than to help others.
Now though, for the first time in her life, Beth believed in something greater than herself. After meeting Startüm and seeing what she’d seen, she now believed. Ukko wasn’t all powerful or all knowing. Call it a modern mindset, but after so many years of dealing with her family’s religious beliefs, Beth couldn't stomach any God that called itself that. If a God called itself all powerful and all knowing, then why did it allow the horror and tragedy that occurred in the world everyday to happen? For her, actions always spoke louder than words. If everything terrible that happening in the world was all part of God's plan, than what did it say about any God that allowed such things to happen? Beth just couldn’t get her head around any God like that. Not that she particularly thought of Ukko as a God type of person, so to speak. She thought of Ukko as being more of a living concept of right and wrong. It represented an idea that she’d striven towards her entire life, except now it had a name. Most importantly, Ukko didn’t expect blind faith. For Detective Beth Kurwoski, this was a crucial difference!
Suddenly, she felt Startüm stir under her hands. Her heart fluttered in relief, he would live after all! Just then, she heard the creature’s bellow of rage ringing out above her. Snapping her eyes open, Beth’s head whipped around in time to meet the demon’s glowing red eyes staring down at them. She heard the gasps of the other women around her as the creature pushed itself onto the stumps of its ruined legs, raising its battleaxe high overhead for the final strike. Looking down at Startüm, she saw the bright golden light begin to surround him, but in her heart she knew it would finish too late. They were all going to die!
