Horde of the Demon Priest (Demona Book 3)

by Megan A. Hepler

  “Come on,” Demona said to the demon. She looked him straight in the eyes.

  “Help!” Ileana yelled. The chaos and screams around her blotted out the sound of her pleas.

  Aleph, keep them safe.

  Demona resisted the urge to turn in Gale and Ileana’s direction. The desperation in Ileana’s voice was difficult to ignore, but Demona had to keep the demon priest distracted. Her efforts seemed to work. The snake transformed into the priest and stood there before her. Demona had a sense of déjà vu; most likely from a similar moment at the Masquerade Ball.

  Demona pointed the sword at the demonic priest. “What do you want from me?”

  “Your power, the God’s power,” Abd al-Malik replied.

  “Don’t you already have enough of that? That priest has a strong enough connection to the spiritual power of Aleph.”

  A hiss emanated from the priest before he spoke. “Your power is pure. Stronger. I must have it all!” Abd al-Malik demanded.

  Demona shook her head. “You can’t have it,” she yelled. “I won’t allow it. Aleph won’t allow it!” Give me strength, Aleph, to be your weapon against this evil!

  “I will take it!”

  The priest sprinted forward in a blur and reached out to grab Demona. She swatted his hands away with the sword. Then, she leapt away from him and prepared for him to come at her again. Abd al-Malik took to his misty demon-like form and spiraled toward her. She ducked as he almost slammed into her. Demona recovered and spun around to find the demon priest once more in human form.

  “No,” Demona said, “you won’t!”

  He lunged at her and she swung her blade with all of her strength as quickly as her body would allow. A growl sounded from behind the priest. Grantly jumped from out of nowhere and landed with his two large paws on Abd al-Malik’s back. It flung the demon forward awkwardly. Abd al-Malik’s control of his host was strong, but not enough to recover quickly. He stepped towards Demona just as her blade was reaching its maximum force. The blade struck his side and sliced deeply into his flesh. The priest’s body released a gush of slick crimson blood when Demona pulled the sword away.

  “I said you can’t have it!” Demona yelled.

  Abd al-Malik seemed unaffected by the injury, despite the large amount of blood that spilled from the wound. The only thing that Demona had managed to do was make the demon priest hiss with anger. The demon priest’s unnatural stare sent chills through Demona’s body and she prepared for his next move. She backed away slowly to provide more distance between herself and the attacker.

  Instead of attacking Demona again, as expected, the demon priest returned to serpent form. He coiled his body around himself and raised his head up high into the air. He swayed as he hovered over her once again and prepared to strike. Demona backed away farther.

  What is it… snakes can jump once their body length or twice? Either way, I’m screwed. Help me out here Aleph! I’m doing the best that I can. Demona harnessed her elemental magic and sent electric volts through the air. The lightning bolts struck the serpent, but he was unaffected by her magical abilities.

  Abd al-Malik’s long scaled body steadied. His mouth opened with a loud hiss and he lunged forward with all of his might.

  Chapter 16:

  The Artifact

  Demona leapt out of the serpent’s path as he lunged once more in her direction. She watched as the front portion of the giant snake’s body landed where she had stood moments ago. His slender scaly body impacted with a thud.

  The serpent opened his fanged jaws to speak. “You cannot wield the artifact!” He struck suddenly at Demona with his mouth wide open.

  Demona dodged his attack. “What do you know about it?” She yelled back at the evil being, as she leapt to the side when the serpent struck downward.

  “Only what Master says.” The demon priest’s forked tong struck out of its mouth as he stared down his nose at Demona.

  The words the demon priest had spoken took Demona aback. The demon priest has a master? What kind of being could be that powerful and dark to control this demon, especially since the demon priest was already wielding unlimited amounts of power? Whoever or whatever it is, must be stronger than we ever thought possible.

  The thought gave Demona chills, she was not certain that she wanted to know the answers to those questions that flowed through her mind. Demona knew she needed answers regardless of how she felt. She would make a point to discuss the information with her friends after the demon was dealt with.

  Demona took a courageous step forward. “Who is your Master?”

  “I will not betray him,” the demon hissed. He slithered in a circle and lashed his tail toward Demona. Demona slashed her sword as the tail swung toward her. She struck it and provided the serpent with a minor wound.

  Well at least we know it’s a him and not a her. That narrows things down a bit, or not.

  Demona was distracted by her thoughts and was not moving as quickly as she should have been. She did not entirely escape the serpent’s fangs as they descended downward aimed directly for her. Her kataphraktos began to spread over her skin in response to the snake’s fang scraping against her left shoulder. The white ivy-like pattern wound its way over her skin until she was covered by it from head to toe. She glanced over at her shoulder to assess the damage while the snake prepared to rear again. She found no injury where she expected one to be. There was nothing, not even a visible scratch.

  “Your power must be mine.” The massive reptilian creature reared once again ready to strike at Demona.

  Demona shook her head. “Not a chance. Not after all I’ve been through.”

  Many of the defenders had managed to grab the weapons that were scattered across Roost Haven. They gathered at the coiled end of the serpent’s body, while he was distracted by Demona. In unison they attacked the demon priest from behind. Demona readied her sword in preparation for the snake’s next strike. It lunged. Demona held her ground until the last moment and leapt to the side. She thrust out her arm and stabbed the snake with the sword. The blade entered between the scales and it dug deep.

  The snake let out a hissing scream and recoiled on itself, taking Demona’s sword with it. The defenders increased their unified attacks on the demon priest. The giant reptilian-creature flopped around in agony. The attacks were too much for it to defend at once and the vast amounts of injuries he had suffered finally began to wear him down. The serpent gave off a painful hissing scream before it turned and slithered away from the headquarters.

  The refugees and other camp residents emerged from their hiding places and took up a cheer of victory. Demona looked around her at the destruction left behind. The demon priest had done a number on Roost Haven after it had thrashed around from the simultaneous attacks. It would take time to put most of the base back together. The tents and their contents were scattered across the ground.

  The steeple on the old church had been crushed from by the demon priest’s constrictive embrace. The old bell hung haphazardly from a shattered tower. The constriction on the church had created cracks to spread up the foundation and loosen several of the bricks. Demona was not sure if the structure was safe to be inside any longer, but she would leave that decision up to an expert. The broken stained glass windows were the only things that made the building still resemble a church.

  Demona looked down at her feet as the victorious cheers still rang around her. “Don’t cheer,” Demona yelled over the raised voices. “He’s not dead yet. If anything, we just made him angrier.” She bent down and began picking up anything that could be salvaged from the destruction.

  “Help!” Ileana’s voice rang. Her pleading cries had been muted by the shouts of victory, but now that Demona had put an end to the sound, her voice reverberated through Roost Haven.

  Demona dropped what she had been doing and ran to her friend. Guilt flared inside her for having forgotten about Gale in the fray. Ileana hovered over Gale protectively. When she moved to look up at
Demona she held out her blood coated hands. Gale lay motionless in a puddle of blood that spilled from her head.

  “I tried, Demona,” Ileana sobbed. “Nobody heard me yelling for help. The commotion from the demon priest…it was too loud. I couldn’t leave her to get help. I couldn’t leave her!”

  Demona’s brows were creased with concern. “I’ll go find Molony.” She turned toward the hospital wing.

  Ileana shook her head. “No… It’s too late.”

  Demona turned at her words. Ileana sat there shaking her head in defeat. Tears poured from her red eyes and down her moist cheeks.

  “No, she can’t be…” Demona covered her face with her hands as grief took hold. “Ezekiel…He’ll be devastated.”

  “She was like a mother to me. They took me in when I had nowhere else to go,” Ileana’s body shook.

  “Ileana, come with me.” Demona gathered Ileana up and they walked away from Gale’s lifeless form. She could not leave her friend alone like that. It was difficult seeing Ileana so distraught; she always seemed to be unaffected by things.

  We need Kearne!

  It was as if Kearne had heard her thoughts. He came running from around the church and picked up his pace when he saw the state that Ileana was in. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” He said looking at her blood soaked hands.

  “Gale. She’s gone!” Ileana reached for Kearne and buried her face in his shoulder. Her body racked with sobs as he held her tightly.

  Demona looked into Kearne’s eyes. “Take care of her.” She walked away to find Felix and Kaleb.

  Demona found both of the men assessing the damage from where the demon priest had broken into Roost Haven. She pulled them aside and told them what had happened. Her face was flushed and she had trouble catching her breath between sobs to speak to them. Felix wrapped his arms around her, while Kaleb walked away with tears in his eyes.

  When the news was delivered to Ezekiel, despair took hold of him. He was inconsolable for quite some time, until Molony could come to his best friend’s aid. They went into Ezekiel’s office for hours where they continuously prayed to Aleph. Their voices carried into the sanctuary, where all of the mourners were gathered. They heard their prayers for strength to deal with the grief, for peace in knowing Gale had gone to a better place, and hope for better days ahead. Demona echoed their words in her own prayer.

  A few of the other GLC members had gone to tend to Gale’s body, those that knew her best. Several of the refugees had volunteered to prepare a burial site in the small private cemetery outside of the base. Luckily the ground was not frozen enough to prevent them from digging the plot. With all of the destruction that had taken place, almost all of the residents in Roost Haven had stopped what they were doing in order to attend to the tasks that were required to put Gale to rest.

  After Gale was made presentable, Ezekiel was left alone with her body for a time, so that he could say his goodbyes privately. A while afterward he exited the tent where she was prepared and stood sullenly to allow the other mourners to enter and pay their respects first to Gale, and then to him. One by one all who knew her said farewell to the amazing, kind woman. Her soothing voice and grandmotherly affection would be missed by many. Even the refugees came to give their condolences to Ezekiel. It was a true sign of respect and appreciation that the refugees sent to the GLC members with their actions.

  The funeral procession was quick. Everyone walked behind the casket in order of importance in Gale’s life. Demona looked down at her feet as they crunched in the dry snow below with each step she took. The moment was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Everything was coated in white and silence emanated around them, giving the burial a solemn serenity. Molony gave the final words before Gale’s casket was lowered into the earth.

  All of the attendants walked back to base somberly. Ezekiel stayed behind and stood by her grave. Molony stood at a distance in order to make sure his friend had space, but to also be there when he was in need. Demona and Felix walked side by side through Roost Haven in silence.

  Demona stopped in her tracks. “Oh! I forgot! I think Abd al-Malik may have given me a clue to how to use the artifact.”

  After the church’s structure was deemed safe Felix assembled everyone of importance in the building for a meeting, though it took some time before Ezekiel and Molony made their way into the sanctuary. Kerrick had arrived just in time for their meeting. He had a quizzical look on his face after having surveyed the headquarters on his way into the building. The gathering felt awkward following the events and Gale’s burial. Despite what had happened to Gale only hours before, there were, unfortunately, more pressing matters to be dealt with since the demon priest was a growing threat to Melville and surrounding areas.

  Ezekiel sat quietly on a pew as the meeting began. Others were respectfully silent, except for Demona.

  “The demon priest said something that struck me as odd,” she said. “First he said that I couldn’t wield the artifact. Why would he bring that up?” She paused. “The only thing I can think of is that mentioning me and the artifact might indicate that I have something to do with making it work. How he knows this, I have no idea.” She shrugged.

  Kerrick walked to Demona and handed her the artifact. The moment that the artifact rested in the palms of her hands it began to glow.

  Demona studied the artifact. “Some of the etchings are glowing.”

  “Do you feel it working?” Molony asked.

  Demona shook her head. “It just feels cold like when I touched it at the Tomb of Beginning.” There has to be some kind of trick to this thing.

  “Let’s take it down to the possessed to see if you can activate its power,” Kaleb suggested.

  They all agreed and made their way silently down the metal staircase and into the church basement. They surrounded the cell where the possessed was restrained.

  “Well, I guess I have to go in,” Demona said. She was apprehensive about being so close to the possessed.

  She handed Felix the artifact, so that she could unlock the many locks on the cell door. When Felix grabbed onto the artifact it glowed brighter. Demona and Felix exchanged glances. Felix’s eyebrows rose. Demona released her grip on the artifact and it continued to glow.

  “What is it? What happened?” Kaleb asked.

  “When I handed the artifact to Felix more of the etchings began to glow,” Demona said.

  Felix looked up from the glowing object. “But when she let go of it, some of it stopped glowing.”

  Molony rubbed his chin. “You must both have the ability to use the artifact. But, why?”

  Nobody could come up with an answer. Demona and Felix decided to both step into the cell with the possessed. The possessed’s body was beginning to bloat as it continued to decompose and Demona fought the urge to vomit. She and Felix each grabbed a side of the artifact and held it over the possessed as he thrashed about in agitation. They attempted to trigger more of a response from the object, but nothing more seemed to happen. It remained the same; it just continued to glow, its soft white glow, when their hands touched it.

  “Okay, so this isn’t working,” Demona said.

  “There has to be something we are missing. Like what is it about you two that makes it glow?” Molony pondered.

  The group remained silent for a time, each trying to think of what made Demona and Felix special.

  “Maybe it is because they are in love, but that wouldn’t explain why it isn’t doing anything else,” Ezekiel said.

  “It is a possibility. I had originally thought that because of Demona’s unique position as the chosen one and her connection to Aleph that it would explain why it began to glow for her. Though, that doesn’t help explain its response to Felix,” Molony said.

  “Ileana, go get Kearne,” Demona said. “I think I know what we need to do.”

  Several minutes later Ileana returned with Kearne. He entered the basement with a curious look on his face. “What’s going on?”

&nbs
p; Demona pointed to the spot beside her. “Come stand beside me.”

  Kearne took his place inside the cell on the opposite side of her from Felix.

  “Now put your hands on the artifact,” Demona said.

  Kearne did as instructed. As his fingertips put pressure onto the artifact the object glowed even brighter. This time, all of the etchings lit up with Demona, Felix, and Kearne each touching the artifact.

  “Huh,” Demona said.

  “Man, did you guys feel that?” Felix asked.