Hellgate: Goetia

by Mel Odom

  “Then you’re dead sooner rather than later,” Hargastor said. “And those of you determined to live will feast on you.”

  One of the military men cursed the demon, but most of the others broke down and cried.

  “Let me hear the joyful noise of your lamentations,” Hargastor snarled. He lumbered toward the bars on his knuckles and rapped one big fist against them hard enough to make the door ring.

  “You’re an ugly brute,” the military man said. “Foul and filthy. And one day you’ll get what’s coming to you. The knights will make sure of that.”

  “The knights? You mean the Templar?” Hargastor cursed. “They’re dead and gone. Only a few remain, and they’ll die like rats when we find them.”

  “They’ve killed better than you,” the man taunted.

  Warren couldn’t believe the man was still talking. Surely he knew the demon could kill him.

  “That’s what he wants,” the voice said. “He’s a warrior. He would rather spend his blood in battle than to die caged like an animal kept for slaughter.”

  That mindset seemed alien to Warren. All his life he’d struggled to survive, and that meant never drawing attention to himself.

  Except he was here now, and he was supposed to somehow destroy the behemoth before him.

  Hargastor laughed, and the evil sound echoed along the passageway. Then the demons stopped and snuffled like a dog taking scent.

  Warren eased back into the shadows.

  “He has your scent, yer lordship,” Jonas whispered. Amusement colored his words. “You’ve still got flesh on your bones. And you stink of fear. Even I can smell it, and I don’t have a nose.”

  “Shut up,” Warren commanded.

  Jonas’s jaws snapped shut with a click.

  Darkspawn turned in Warren’s direction. They raised their weapons in readiness.

  “Stay,” Hargastor ordered.

  Warren’s bowels turned to water as he tried to press himself into the stone wall.

  Hargastor shuffled on his knuckles. “I smell you, human. You might as well step out of hiding. There’s no place to run.”

  Warren tried to leave but couldn’t. His legs wouldn’t go in that direction.

  Do not retreat before him, Merihim ordered. You represent me. I will not have my enemies think I am a coward.

  Then why aren’t you here? Warren wanted to ask. But he only hoped he hadn’t thought that too loud.

  “I am with you,” the voice said. “You aren’t alone.”

  But Warren didn’t trust any of the voices inside his head.

  “Come out, human,” Hargastor said more forcefully. “If I have to come after you, things will go much harder for you.”

  Before he could stop himself, Warren stepped into the passageway. He knew he hadn’t moved his legs. Merihim had moved him. The demon hand knotted into a fist.

  “Come to me,” Hargastor ordered.

  Even though he didn’t want to, Warren stepped forward. Fear rattled so badly inside him he thought he was going to be sick. He swallowed bile and tried to remain focused.

  Kill this abomination, Merihim ordered. Let his death be a message to Fulaghar.

  “Bring him to me,” Hargastor ordered. “I’ll kill him to provide a banquet for those among the prisoners who would live.”

  The Darkspawn started forward.

  Warren thought desperately. He saw the faces of the imprisoned humans lining the metal bars of their cage. If he could free them, even if he didn’t have an army he at least had a means of splitting the demons’ attention.

  He concentrated on the lock that held the iron bars shut till he could picture the mechanism in his mind. He formed a blacksmith’s hammer in his mind and pushed.

  Instantly, the lock on the cell door shattered. Pieces of metal jangled against the stone floor.

  Whipping his demon hand forward, Warren threw a ball of fire over the first two Darkspawn. They ignited at once and twirled around madly in an attempt to douse the flames. Their screams ripped through the passageway.

  “You’re free!” Warren yelled, impressing that suggestion to the prisoners in the cave/cell. “Run for your lives!”

  He wasn’t sure where they were going to run. From what he’d learned of the sanitarium, no one knew the lower levels existed.

  The military men forced the other survivors up and through the door. Darkspawn turned toward them at once. Three of the military men closed on one of the Darkspawn. The demon fired a strange-looking red and gray weapon that belched red-gold bursts that ricocheted from the passageway floor and walls.

  The creature managed only a few shots before the military men overwhelmed it and knocked it to the floor. One of the men took a direct hit and stumbled forward only a couple steps before dropping to his knees. He covered his chest and tried to scream.

  Then his chest melted and took away his lungs. His face and head followed, sloughing into the chest cavity as the corpse fell forward.

  With guttural curses, the warriors battered the demon to the floor and turned the weapon onto the Darkspawn. Several more bursts sailed through the passageway. One struck a fleeing prisoner and dropped the woman to the ground when her legs folded under her. She screamed hoarsely until the destruction caused by the weapon rendered her unconscious or dead.

  Panicked, Warren dropped to the ground. A burst missed him by inches before disappearing down the hallway.

  “Get them!” Hargastor ordered. “Don’t let them escape!”

  Three Darkspawn surged forward.

  The two men left struggling with the Darkspawn fired several bursts into their opponent. The Darkspawn screeched defiantly and lashed out with a handful of claws that tore through one man’s face and left it a bloody mess. The man staggered back, but the demon didn’t live to see its victory. The energy burst turned it into a mass of seething protoplasm that leaked through its bones.

  The man who had seized the weapon fired at the nearest Darkspawn and hit the demon in the head. Instantly the Darkspawn’s head blew up like a balloon, then fell inside its neck. Already dead, the demon stumbled to the ground and sprawled.

  Before the man could use his weapon again, two other Darkspawn fired at him from point-blank range. The bursts chewed holes in his body before he hit the ground. The other man wiped blood from his eyes and dove for the weapon. He managed to get it up, but couldn’t fire before more bursts hit him.

  Hargastor whirled toward Warren. “You’re going to pay for the inconvenience you’ve caused, human. I’ll give you a slow and painful death.”

  “Get up,” the voice said in the back of Warren’s mind. “Get up or you’ll die on your knees.”

  Three Darkspawn closed on Warren as he pushed himself to his feet.

  Simon led the way down the spiral staircase that had been hewn through the limestone. The HUD chased the shadows from the area. At the bottom, the hallway ran in both directions.

  “Any guesses which way?” he asked.

  “No,” Nathan said. “The man—or woman—that made that drawing might not have known. Or could have gotten confused.”

  “We could split up,” Danielle suggested.

  “No,” Leah and Simon said at the same time.

  “Not exactly my favorite idea either,” Danielle admitted. “But I thought we might be able to cover more ground that way.”

  “We go together,” Simon said. “Whatever is down here has waited for a long time. It can wait a little while longer.” He chose the passage to the right, thinking that the wall offered protection for his weak side.

  More skeletons littered the floor. Most of the cages had been occupied. Mummified corpses lay sprawled on the other side of the iron bars.

  “They didn’t even try to get these people out of here,” Danielle said in a soft voice.

  “Their families paid for them to be locked away,” Nathan said. “You didn’t think they wanted them back just because the sanitarium was closing, did you?”

  “Did anyone ever
find out what the sanitarium staff did to these people?”

  “I don’t know,” Simon answered. “None of the research I looked at talked about any of this.”

  “Seems to me we’ve had plenty of evil here before the demons arrived,” Danielle said.

  No one argued with her.

  The unmistakable voice of a demon rang out in the passageway ahead. Then a human voice ordered others to flee for their lives. Feet slapped against stone as fearful cries echoed through the hollow throat of the hallway.

  Simon waved the others into defensive positions. They occupied the hallway in stacked two by two formation. He and Nathan took kneeling positions with their swords across their knees and their Spike Bolters in hand. Danielle and another Templar stood behind them so they could fire over their heads.

  It was a close-in tactic designed to break a frontal assault.

  “Protect the rear,” Simon said. “Pull back to the staircase and keep the way open. Remember that this hallway is a ring.”

  Two Templar broke off and jogged back the way they’d come. Simon kept track of all their positions on the HUD.

  “I have identified one of the voices,” the suit’s AI informed him.

  That surprised Simon. He hadn’t recognized any of the voices, but he knew the AI kept track of everyone he’d come in contact with.

  “Display,” Simon ordered.

  “His name is Warren. I don’t know if that’s a first name or last.” The AI ghosted an image on the HUD.

  Simon didn’t recognize the young black man onscreen. “I don’t know him.”

  “You met him before,” the AI said. “When you were attempting to retrieve Balekor’s Hammer.”

  Simon remembered the man then. He’d chopped his hand off when he’d called forth a demon to kill them. The nightmare of taking the man’s hand had been only one of those that chased through Simon’s dreams. He was surprised to learn that the man was still alive.

  They’d gotten Balekor’s Hammer that night, and they’d gotten away. Most of them. The weapon was in the Templar Underground now. At least, the last time Simon had seen it the hammer had been.

  But what was the man doing here now? The last Simon had seen of him was the night the man—Warren—had tried to kill him aboard the train four years ago. Simon had felt certain the Cabalist had died in the river that night.

  Shapes appeared around the bend in the hallway. Even with the HUD’s amplification Simon couldn’t tell if they were demon or human.

  “Hold,” he ordered calmly.

  In the next instant he saw that they were human. Four of them fled for their lives. But Darkspawn followed at their heels.

  Nathan cursed.

  “Up,” Simon ordered. “We let the people through and we hold the demons.” He leaned into a run and brought the Spike Bolter up as he closed on the fleeing humans.

  THIRTY

  W arren summoned the dark energy that swirled within him. He threw his demon hand forward and imagined thousands of predatory insects. No actual insects manifested, but it was how he’d learned to shape the power. A shimmering wall collided with the advancing Darkspawn.

  Sparkles glistened across their scaly hide. They jerked to halts as if stung by bees and started slapping at their flesh. Then Warren pushed again.

  The energy had embedded dozens of explosive nodes in the Darkspawn’s bodies. His secondary casting set them off. The resulting detonations shook and shattered the Darkspawn. Gobbets of flesh flew free and slapped against the walls, ceiling, and ground.

  Only one of the Darkspawn survived with little injury. The demon aimed its pistol and fired.

  The drain from the previous effort left Warren light-headed. He’d used that attack only a few times before and it always had that effect on him. But it was always effective as well. He focused and held his palm out flat before him.

  The energy bursts struck an invisible barrier in front of Warren and ricocheted back. Some of them struck Hargastor, who howled in rage as massive sores opened on his broad chest and one of his arms.

  Startled, the Darkspawn turned toward its master as if fearing retribution from that front. While the demon was distracted, Warren thrust his hand out and twisted violently. An invisible force caught the Darkspawn’s head and twisted to mimic Warren’s effort.

  Bones snapped and the demon dropped to the ground and remained still.

  Hargastor cursed and roared in pain.

  “You can’t kill him head-on,” the voice whispered in the back of Warren’s head. “His back is his weakest point. If he sees you, he can defend against you.”

  Hargastor waved his hands over the sores on his body. They healed almost immediately.

  “He’s almost invincible.”

  Warren believed that. He thought about diving for one of the weapons dropped by the demons he’d destroyed, but the idea of using a mechanical weapon bothered him. More than that, he’d seen Hargastor recover from those wounds in seconds.

  “Those weapons aren’t an answer,” the voice said. “You have the power within you.”

  As he gazed at the huge demon before him, Warren knew that wasn’t true. “No. I can’t. Hargastor is too strong.”

  “You have to choose the moment to strike. Until then, you just have to stay alive.”

  Easier said than done, Warren thought helplessly.

  Hargastor pinned him with its baleful gaze. Nearly a dozen Darkspawn yet remained around their master. They took aim and fired.

  Warren ducked around the bend of the passage. He found himself standing beside Jonas.

  “A bit nasty out there, ain’t it?” the skeleton asked.

  “Is there a way out of here?” Warren demanded.

  Don’t run, Merihim ordered.

  Then help me, Warren entreated. I’m not strong enough to stand against Hargastor.

  Down the passageway, Darkspawn ran toward Warren’s position.

  “There’s a way out,” Jonas said. “At least, there used to be. Stairway at the other end of the passage like the one we came up.”

  “If you try to leave, Merihim will strike you down,” the voice said.

  Warren hesitated, torn about what he should do.

  “You can wait around if you like, mate, but I’m not.” Jonas took off before Warren could stop him. The skeleton’s bony feet smacked against the stone floor. He didn’t manage twenty paces before the power animating him left him. The spell worked only in close proximity to Warren.

  As Warren watched Jonas drop to the ground in a tangle of bones bound by desiccated ligaments, he knew he didn’t have the power to animate the skeleton again. Warren clung to the thought that there was a way out. He reached for Naomi and felt her there.

  “I’m here,” she told him.

  “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to come back on my own. I may need you to do it for me.”

  She hesitated. “I’m tired. I don’t know if I can.”

  You’ll never come out of the darkness, Merihim promised. It will swallow you whole, and I will allow it. Finish what you were sent there to do.

  Warren wanted to hide. It was what he’d always done while dealing with his stepfather. Just hide until it all went away. No matter how much power he had, or all the arcane knowledge he learned, he knew he’d never get far from that small boy he’d been.

  “You will learn strength,” the voice said. “I will teach you.”

  “Then teach me now,” Warren said.

  From the nearness of the running footsteps, he knew the Darkspawn were nearly upon him. He marshaled his reserve strength and set himself.

  He couldn’t run. There was nowhere to go that something wouldn’t get him.

  Then a barrage of weapons fire opened up in the hallway back in the direction of Hargastor. Warren recognized the sound from previous encounters during the last four years. Those were Templar weapons.

  “Yes,” the voice whispered. “Now prepare yourself. There’s still a lot you must do if you would live.” />
  When the last of the humans were by him and only Darkspawn remained before him, Simon opened fire with the Spike Bolter. Nathan joined him less than a heartbeat later.

  The palladium spikes tore into demon flesh and broke the Darkspawn’s charge. They howled in pain as they stumbled and fell. Simon holstered the Spike Bolter and took up his sword in both hands. He cut through the remaining Darkspawn and limbs dropped like tree branches in a storm.

  One of the Darkspawn raised its weapon and blasted Simon full in the face before he could move. He’d tracked the creature on the HUD, knew the attack was coming, but couldn’t do anything about it.

  The energy blast rocked Simon’s head back and blanked his HUD.

  “Visual systems off-line,” the suit AI stated. “Working to reroute program.” The armor was designed to cannibalize parts of itself to support primary systems.

  “Nathan,” Simon said, “I’m blind.”

  “It’s okay, mate,” Nathan said calmly. “I’ve got you.”

  As he dropped to one knee to clear the field of fire, Simon heard Nathan’s blade cleaving flesh, then there was a burst from the Spike Bolter. The sound of a body hitting the stone floor echoed in the hallway.

  “Simon, let me see your hand,” Danielle said.

  Simon lifted his hand and felt it taken. She guided it to her shoulder.

  “Open your sensor array,” Danielle said. “Feed off mine.”

  “Doing that will limit your sensors,” Simon said. All the suits were hardwired with symbiotic natures. The subset had originally been intended for medical analysis on the battlefield, but the use had broadened.

  “I know. But we’re underground. I don’t think either of us will notice much loss.”

  Simon opened his sensor array to take in Danielle’s open channel. He wouldn’t have been able to access her sensors unless she’d left them available. His HUD “sight” returned to him.

  The symbiosis wasn’t perfect, though. His perception was slightly off, centered more on Danielle’s point of view rather than his own position. Also, there was a good chance that both systems would experience slower processing that would take them out of real-time. In a battle, even a split-second could mean the difference between life and death.