Lucy's Blade

by John Lambshead

  To Lilith, the inside reeked of the heavy energy fields that protected the structure from the decay of time. The interior walls were still brightly white above waist height. Below this they were painted in an emerald green. The floor was lined with coloured stones in a zigzag pattern of dull orange and pale green. Nothing grew on it. The jungle was forbidden to intrude here.

  The broken doors were on one of the shorter edges of a rectangle. A low platform of white stone stood at the other end of the precinct, some fifty yards away, with steps leading up from the floor. A square one-story temple with a flat roof stood on this base. The bottom half was the same brick red as the outer walls but the upper half was a flat white that glared in the tropical sun. Panels of pale blue stone were inset. Peculiar ornamental crenulations lined the edge of the roof. These battlements were made of green bricks so arranged as to be straight on one side but in three steps on the other.

  A large open rectangular doorway led into the building. Two white pillars supported a long red lintel stone. Isabella stood in front of the temple behind a natural extrusion of crystal that speared out of the floor. Deep blue waves shimmered within the mineral. Isabella's arms were raised in supplication. Her Italian mercenaries flanked her and formed a protective screen in front on the steps.

  Isabella spoke in a voice that cut across the precinct. "Lady Dennys! I should have known it was you as soon as the doors burst in. You just don't take a hint when you are not wanted, do you?"

  "What in hell is that?" William pointed over Lucy's shoulder to the middle of the courtyard. Hell was right. A large spinning black vortex hung in the air in front of the Spanish witch. Flashes of lightning flickered from the circumference of the circle and disappeared into the centre. The optical effect was of a deep tunnel but that was impossible, as the vortex was a paper-thin flat disc.

  "We are too late," Lucy said, dully. "Isabella's got the portal open."

  A dot appeared in the middle of the vortex. It grew in size until it could be seen as a figure. It continued to grow like an object approaching at high speed, from a long way off. The figure appeared in the courtyard. It did not step out of the portal or drop but just was there.

  The demon stood three yards high on two scaly legs. Its body was held horizontal but a snakelike head reared up on a long curved neck, balanced by a muscular tail. The body and arms of the monster were covered in coloured feathers, giving the appearance of a giant bird. But this monster had two long arms ending in hooked claws. It raised its foot and made a raking gesture at the men with three taloned toes, like a bird of prey. The demon was definitely unfriendly. One of the sailors sobbed and dropped his boarding pike.

  Lilith examined the creature carefully. She reached out with her mind to explore the beast and the portal. The demon felt her and opened its mouth, revealing rows of dagger-shaped teeth. It hissed in annoyance at her probe.

  Simon whispered behind Lucy's back, "Topiltzin Quezalcoatl. Our Lord of the Feathered Serpent."

  "What?" asked William.

  "The Aztec worshiped a feathered serpent called Quezalcoatl. Their legends say he departed overseas into the rising sun to find his own land." Simon paused. "Mayhap this is his place."

  'Lilith,' thought Lucy. "Is that demon as dangerous as it looks?'

  'Your physiological reactions are an appropriate response to confrontation with such an organism,' thought Lilith, who tended to get pompous when rattled.

  'What?'

  'It's dangerous.'

  A second demon appeared beside the first, then a third.

  'Can we fight the demons, Lilith? Can we beat them?'

  'I don't think so, Lucy. That portal goes deep into the Shadow Worlds, deeper than I imagined was possible,' thought Lilith. 'The very physical laws of the universe are likely to be different where those monsters live. I am surprised that they can exist here at all.'

  'Maybe magic protects them.'

  'Oh, of course,' thought Lilith. 'The energy from the crystal creates a bubble universe around them. The monsters will vanish if we destroy the crystal.'

  'So all we have to do is kill the demons, fight through the mercenaries and Isabella, and destroy the crystal. Then the dead demons will cease to be a problem,' thought Lucy, dryly.

  Lilith ignored her. 'There might be something I can do. I might degrade the information in Isabella's control channels by spraying gravitons at her.'

  'Right,' thought Lucy. 'Degrade control channels, right.'

  A fourth demon appeared. The vortex began to throb and purple blotches spun in whirls around its centre but the demon arrived safely. Isabella waved her arms and chanted frantically.

  'I think that I have found the right spin for the particles,' thought Lilith.

  A fifth demon sped out of the nowhere of the vortex, towards them. The purple blobs multiplied and split into blue and red whirls. The throbbing vortex collapsed with a crash and a smell like a lightning strike. A scaly head and feathered arm bounced onto the zigzag floor leaving a slimy green trail. The rest of the monster disappeared back into the vortex as it closed. The demons hissed their anger at Isabella.

  'Isabella's lost control of the portal,' thought Lilith, smugly.

  "See! The demons can be killed. Cut them and they bleed and die, just like anything else," William called out to the sailors, trying to boost morale and stave off panic.

  The demons screamed at the men, showing their teeth. Isabella laughed and sneered at Lucy.

  William drew his cutlass and raised it over his head to signal a charge. Several of the men fired their weapons. The demons did not appear to notice.

  'Stop them, Lucy,' thought Lilith. 'They don't stand a chance.'

  "No!" yelled Lucy. Once she had William's attention, she continued in a lower voice. "The men can't fight these things. You will all be killed."

  'I have been running some simulations. The sailors will be run down and slaughtered one by one if we all retreat together. You and I might get away but they have no chance. The result is the same if we all attack, only quicker.' Lilith paused.

  'I don't like those choices, Lilith. Give me another,' the girl thought.

  'There is a third way. We get the men to retreat back to the boat while we attack to pin the demons in place. Back in the last Shadow World, I looked up some files in an interesting place called the Sandhurst Military Academy computer. They had this whole section on what they called Target Rich Environments. A lone fighter can use her enemies' size and numbers against them.'

  'I get the idea. On our own we can hit anything that moves but the demons will get in each other's way,' thought Lucy. 'We still won't win though, will we?'

  'No. I am afraid we can't win but we can tie them down long enough to save the men. However, my assessment of male behaviour is that they will insist on dying with us. Ridiculous, but there it is.'

  'Leave the men to me,' thought Lucy. 'I will do what women always do in these situations.'

  'What's that, Lucy?'

  'I will lie to them for their own good,' thought the girl.

  The conversation with Liliith had taken little more than an eye blink of time.

  "William," said Lucy, turning to him. "This battle is unwinnable. I suggest we retreat back to the ship to fight another day. I will make a demonstration and occupy them long enough for you to get the men away. Then I will flee and join you at the ship."

  "I like this not," said William.

  Lucy looked at him with big innocent eyes devoid of any hint of duplicity. "I am the weapon, Captain. Remember your promise to use me when the time came. Well, the time is upon us." Lucy grabbed William and gave him a long lover's kiss. "Don't worry about me. I'll run these demons round in circles, then join you," she whispered.

  Gwilym made to follow her. "Not this time, bodyguard, speed is my defence now. This time you stay with the other men," Lucy said. He fell back reluctantly.

  The girl turned her back on the men and walked towards the monsters drawing her blade. Internal comm
unication between Lucy and Liliith happened at superhuman speeds. Lucy had become used to long discussion occurring between one footfall and the next so she thought to have one last conversation with her friend.

  'Tell me something, Lilith,' thought Lucy. 'When I die, will you really die with me?'

  'I am afraid so, Lucy. I will stay with you to the end.'

  'How long would you have lived if you had stayed in your own sphere?' thought the girl.

  'Ah. It's a bit difficult to explain in your terms, but I suppose you would say forever. Barring accidents, I would have lived forever.'

  'Oh,' Lucy was crestfallen. 'I'm sorry, Lilith.'

  'Don't be, Lucy. I have lived more in the last few months than I would have in a lifetime with the People. It's a privilege to die with you.'

  Lucy said nothing but Lilith detected a strong emotional reaction. Lucy paused for a long time. 'You know, Lilith, I always thought I would die in childbirth. I was very frightened of that. Still it's not a problem now.'

  'Oh it never was a problem, Lucy,' Lilith thought. 'I could easily have prevented you conceiving.'

  Lilith detected a flood of neural activity. 'Now you tell me. Did you not think to mention this earlier?' thought Lucy.

  'No,' thought Lilith. 'I didn't think it was important.'

  'I don't suppose you did, Lilith. Well, it's not important now. We have demons to fight.'

  'I have set up some simulations.'

  'Simulations?' thought Lucy

  'Dreams, Lucy, astrological predictions of what the future could be. I want you to watch them.'

  'Oh, models! Why didn't you say.' As Lucy walked forward towards the feathered serpents, Lilith ran simulation after simulation in her head. In every one, the girl lost the fight and was ripped to pieces by the demons.

  'Enough, Lilith, enough, so I am going to die.'

  'Please, Lucy. There is a point to this. Now, watch what happens when I increase the power running through your body.'

  Lucy watched the simulations despite herself. After each run, Lilith incrementally turned up the gain until the girl did massive damage to the serpents. But Lucy started to die of exhaustion after fewer and fewer minutes.

  'I calculate there is an optimum power level where we have a seventeen point three percent chance of winning before your body burns out,' thought Lilith.

  'Seventeen point three percent? That sounds good Lilith. What's a percent?'

  Lilith started to explain.

  'Never mind,' thought Lucy. 'Turn the power up and I can win but you may kill me anyway.' Lucy paused for a moment. 'Come on, Lilith. Let's do it.'

  Lilith dropped out of Lucy's conscious mind, to avoid distracting her, but seamlessly melded into the girl's body as she strode forward. Barely a second had elapsed in real time.

  "She means to buy us time with her life so that we can flee." William slapped the side of his breeches in irritation. "I daren't risk ordering a charge. We probably would just get in her way." He stood at the head of his men on one side of the ancient courtyard near the entrance facing Isabella and her mercenaries on the opposite side, some thirty-five yards away. The demons, and now Lucy, stood between them.

  William came to a decision. He turned and yelled out, "Boatswain!"

  "Sir."

  "Lady Dennys is going to fight the demons. The minute she gets into trouble we charge."

  "Sir!" said the boatswain. "You hear that, whoresons? We fight the minute the lady falters."

  William turned. Lucy stood about twenty yards from the line of monsters. Her head was up and her arms were outstretched. Her hair rippled as if in a wind but the air was still. Her skin shone and blue lightning crawled down her dagger blade.

  "Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand. Numbers 22:3.

  1," the gunner said. He added simply, "Angels shine."

  William had not realised that the gunner was religious. It was funny what one never knew about people.

  The feathered serpents stood in a line in front of her. If snakes could be said to look nervous then they were nervous. Four huge demons from hell stood and hesitated at the sight of a sixteen-year-old girl. William thought she looked like a fairy princess. He had never loved her more.

  Lucy attacked without warning. In four steps, she accelerated up to an incredible speed. She ran straight for the centre of the demons' line. The serpents dipped their heads to meet her.

  The girl gave a skip, hit the ground with both feet and jumped.

  Lucy flew.

  The jump was impossible. She soared, somersaulting over the creatures' heads. The demon on her immediate right lifted its head to snap at her and her glowing blade flashed against the bright sky. A scaly head hit the ground with a thud. Green fluid poured from its severed neck. The monster's body stood for a moment, as if deciding whether it was truly dead, before folding in on itself. It looked like a giant chicken settling on a nest.

  The Swallows gave a roar of approval that shook the enclosure.

  "Angels fly," the gunner said, reverently.

  Lucy landed on both feet and used a forward roll to absorb the impact before springing upright. The girl had so much momentum that she skipped sideways for two paces before stopping. The monsters turned and rushed her.

  She ran back in at them, fearlessly. Lucy feinted with a sprint to the right, before veering left and throwing herself at the demon on her far left, which was somewhat separated from its fellows. It reared up to catch her in midjump, but this time she dived in low to the ground. The demon lifted a leg and clawed at her. Lucy caught a talon on her left hand and deflected it. The energy spun her round but she slashed at the back of the demon's leg as she fell, severing the tendon.

  The feathered serpent gave a terrible fluting cry as its leg collapsed. The long neck struck out at Lucy. She skipped out of the way to avoid daggerlike teeth.

  Isabella screamed instructions at the demons. The two undamaged monsters were on Lucy immediately. The first to reach her struck with its long neck, like a snake. The girl deflected the huge head with her blade, slashing it across the monster's face. The demon seemed barely to notice and clawed at her now unprotected body with a claw-tipped arm.

  Lucy flung herself backwards. She tripped and fell to the ground losing her knife, its glow fading as soon as it left her hand. The second monster jumped on top of her like a hawk on a field mouse. It stamped its feet, trying to crush the small body underneath. Lucy twisted and turned desperately on the ground, to avoid the hooked talons. The monster gave her no chance to find her feet. The girl was helpless.

  William's sword came up and his mouth opened to order a charge.

  Both demons thrust their necks down at her. Giant wedge-shaped heads with dagger teeth reached for her—and clashed. The demons shook their heads in an almost humanlike way and glared at each other. Demon One took a chunk out of demon Two's shoulder. Demon Two hissed in anger, and raked its claws across Demon One's snout. And then they had at each other, green in fang and claw.

  The demons hissed and spat like a nest of cobras. Lucy rolled clear of the melee, retrieving her dagger. She slipped away, as the demons squabbled like a pair of drunken wherrymen. Lucy ran clear of the two combatants towards the crippled serpent. The creature tried to drag itself upright but its leg failed again.

  Isabella screamed and gesticulated at the fighting demons using the strange click language. They reluctantly disengaged and looked around for Lucy.

  The girl took a stance in front of the wounded demon. When it didn't respond, she moved in closer and slashed it across the snout with her blade. The angry serpent hissed at her and shot its head out, jaws gaping. Lucy spun on one foot, moving her body out of the line of the strike. The wedge-shaped head slid harmlessly along her back.

  Lucy kept turning raising the dagger over her head and bringing up her left hand to double her grip. She brought the blade down in a powerful two-handed slash across
the demon's neck. There was a thud like a heavy axe biting into a tree, a flash of energy from the knife, and the neck parted, spewing green slime. The head wriggled on the ground and snapped its jaws, trying to get at the girl. Eventually, a glaze settled over the yellow eyes and it stilled.

  The Swallows cheered until the temple precinct shook. Hoorahs broke out again as Lucy saluted them with her blade. One or two of the Italian mercenaries cheered as well, forgetting which side they were supposed to be on. Isabella quelled them with a look.

  "By God, that's two down. The lady fights like Drake himself," said the boatswain.

  The remaining demons lumbered towards her. Lucy took off in a flat run away from them. Her path took her across the line of Isabella's mercenaries. Up to now, they had taken no part in the proceedings, content simply to obey their last instruction, which was to protect their employer. Isabella, the sorceress, had obviously pinned all her hopes of victory on her demons, dismissing the mundane force at her disposal. Now that they had drawn attention to themselves. The Spanish witch screamed a command and some of the soldiers raised their crossbows and pointed them at Lucy, but the officer at the front countermanded the order, forcing his men to lower their weapons.

  Lucy ran like in great loping strides with elbows in and weapon held wide away from the body. The lumbering, feathered demons built up to a fast clip and gained on the girl.

  When she reached the wall of the enclosure, she leapt up the sheer face. Grasping the top to steady herself, she landed on two feet. There she waited for the enemy, knife in hand. The monsters braked in front of her and split up to come at her from two sides. They had learned caution. Lucy Dennys had taught them caution with the edge of her blade.

  A serpent struck at Lucy and she smacked its head away with a parry; the blade rang against six-inch fangs.

  "That will give the bugger a toothache," said the boatswain, with grim satisfaction.

  The next monster raked at Lucy's legs with one arm and she leapt upwards, lifting her legs as the claws slid below her. Landing on the narrow wall perfectly balanced, she slashed at the monster's neck, forcing it to spring back. Lucy took the opportunity to renew her attack on the first demon.