by Sam Cheever
We slid out of Dialle’s quarters and blasted the gargoyles closest to us. We hit them so hard and so fast they didn’t even have a chance to growl at us. The twin blasts launched them into the air and they smacked into each other. Then, as gargoyles will, they tore into each other with six inch long, curved claws and gore-coated teeth as they hit the ground.
We left them to finish each other off and blasted two more as they lunged at us. I got mine right between its beady eyes and it dropped like a stone on my boots.
“Frunk me!”
Emo swung around, ready to help me kill something. “What?” He said when he saw nothing trying to eat me.
I dragged a boot out from under the dead ’goyle. “It bled on my boots.”
Emo rolled his eyes. Then his gaze jerked upward and he whipped the long knives from his boots. I looked up from wiping green gargoyle goo off my left boot and saw Emo coming at me with the deadly looking knives.
“Duck!” Emo yelled and I complied, just as a lesser devil leaped toward my back. Emo quickly dispatched the slow, dimwitted creature. “Damn things, can’t even tell we’re on their side.” He wiped the knives on his pants and slid them back into his boots.
Sounds of heavier fighting came to us from the direction of the council room where I’d first been introduced to the ways of the Royal Court. I finished wiping my other boot and said, “Let’s go.”
We headed toward the main event.
When we entered the room it didn’t look anything like I remembered it. The long half arc of a council table had been smashed in several places and was being used, mostly by the demons, as blockades against the jolts of power the devils were putting out.
I didn’t see too many low level devils of the type fighting in the hallways. Those were easily discernible by their squat red bodies, complete with scales and horns. Many of them were not only ugly but they were also extremely stupid.
The hierarchy went upward in looks and intelligence from there. Until you got to the royals, who were as beautiful as they were dangerous. And no one would accuse them of lacking intelligence.
I looked for my Dialle and saw him across the room, engaged in a fearsome battle with the superdemon I thought we’d killed a couple of times. I nudged Emo and he followed my gaze. “Hades! I thought we killed that guy.”
“At least twice,” I added.
Emo frowned and said, “You know, I think I remember from my demon studies that there’s a race of demons with several lives. They’re considered basically immortal because they have so many lives. That’s where the human wives’ tale about cats having nine lives comes from.”
I nodded. “Well this one is on at least his third life. Let’s hope he only has one more left.”
We pulled our knives out and skirted the room to get to Dialle. A knife in each hand, we fought the old fashioned way rather than risk blasting the wrong critter in the crowded room.
A normal, ugly type demon with oily black skin and a warty face grabbed my shoulder as we neared Dialle and I spun too quickly for him to react, slamming my first knife into his thick skinned gut and then slicing my other knife across his dense throat as he collapsed over the first wound. He went down with a thud, nearly landing on my boots again. I yanked them out of the way just in time. “Hades! Is there a frunkin’ sign on these that says ‘Land here’?”
Emo screamed my name and I turned just in time to meet another demon. Unfortunately it was the type with the snakelike supra demons all over its head. For a single beat in time we sized each other up. It didn’t take him all that long to size me up, since my head wasn’t all that far above my feet but I felt like I was eying a skyscraper up and down as my gaze took the demon’s measure. If the thing had been a tree it would have been an ancient redwood. Gulping silently, I swiped at the wormy headed thing with my knife but it managed to swing its upper body wide of my knife at the last second and take only a deep scoring across one leathery arm. Making sure I stayed clear of Emo’s wildly swinging knives, I sprang backward onto my hands and landed on my feet several feet from the demon, immediately launching myself back onto my hands and springing right back toward him. My feet landed in the middle of the thing’s ugly face and his snake covered head snapped back but he didn’t go down like I’d hoped.
Instead he grabbed both of my ankles in one enormous paw and pulled me into the air upside down. I hung there, swinging wildly with my knives, as his upside down face peered at me.
He shook me hard and then grabbed my wrists with the other huge paw when, in a dazed state, I forgot to keep the knives up. I found myself in the unenviable position of staring up an oversized set of nostrils with wiry hair protruding from them and other, more disgusting things.
He pulled me closer to his face and opened his mouth. I tried to squirm free but it was impossible, he had me firmly grasped on both ends. A long, grey tongue came out of the mouth and licked my face. I fought back the urge to spew the contents of my stomach and quickly ran though my options. Okay, that didn’t take long, I only had one.
I went limp and tried to look dead.
He sniffed me once and then licked my face again.
I clenched against the shudder of revulsion that wanted to run away with my body and stayed dead. Finally he let go of my wrists so he could poke me with a fat finger.
As soon as my arms were free I pulled my head toward my feet so my knives could reach his hand and slashed hard at the hand holding my ankles with both knives. He howled like a banshee and released me. Flipping in midair, I sent a burst of power into the nasty dark worlder’s crotch on the way down and managed to land on my feet. Unfortunately I pitched face forward after I landed.
Embarrassing that.
He probably would have recovered enough to grab me again, but when he got done worrying about the deep gouges on his enormous paw, another problem managed to worm its way into his half functioning brain.
He looked down as smoke started to drift away from his crotch and flames began licking upward within the smoke. He screamed an ear shattering scream and started pounding on his blazing crotch with his fist in an effort to quench the flames.
Perhaps not the best idea.
He sucked in his breath and doubled over. Then the shrieking started again, pitched noticeably higher. I rolled onto my back just in time to see him start to wobble at the knees. If he toppled he was gonna come down right on top of me. I rolled as far and as fast as I could and, although I hit a thick, scaly pair of legs I kept my attention focused on the monster that was about to hit the ground too damn close to me for comfort.
He hit the plush carpet with his knees, his eyes glazing in pain and the fire spreading upward to his massive stomach and chest. He wavered there for a moment and then his eyes seemed to focus again.
On me.
One large fist shot toward me and I realized he planned to take me down with him. Not a chance. I raised an arm and shot a jolt of everything I had between his eyes. Two more power streams hit him from different parts of the room and he went down under the combined assault.
His head bounced on the thick carpet just inches away.
I sat panting for a few seconds, oblivious to the continued fighting going on around me. And then started to push my battered body up off the rug. A square, golden hand appeared in front of my face. I looked up into Dialle’s beautiful face.
“Nice work, my princess.” His voice was husky with feeling and warmed all my special places.
I grinned. “Thanks for the assist.” I wiped my bloody hands on my pants and looked at the damage I’d done. “The bigger they are the better they fall.”
He laughed.
I suddenly realized the room had grown relatively quiet. It appeared the battle was over. Bodies from both sides littered the formerly pristine carpet but mostly it was demons and gargoyles.
I looked back to Dialle, “The superdemon?”
“Dead. Again.”
“You sure about that?”
“I left Emo t
o deal with it.”
I looked over to where I’d last seen Dialle fighting the superdemon and saw Emo standing over the body. He had one hip resting against the wall and was cleaning his long knives on the once beautiful velvet draperies. The demon at his feet started to move. Emo glanced down and in an offhand manner shot another jolt into the demon’s brain. The superdemon flopped back to the ground.
Dead. Again.
“How long do you figure he’ll have to stand there?”
Dialle shrugged. “He can get a chair.”
Gerch approached us and gave Dialle a low bow. “My prince.”
“Gerch, present your report.”
“Your Highness, a demon was overheard boasting that they hold our king at Castle Gregg.”
Dialle nodded. “Send two of our most powerful royals to the nightclub with a force of twenty soldiers to release him.”
Gerch bowed again and left.
I knelt down and wiped my long knives on the shirt of a nearby dead demon. “Only twenty soldiers?”
He shrugged. “It should be enough. Alcott has surely taken to the shadows by now and most of his soldiers are lying dead on the floor here.”
I slid the knives back into my boots. “He could have taken the king with him.”
Dialle shook his head. “He wouldn’t do that unless he got permission from his puppet master. Let’s hope he didn’t have a chance to do that.”
I glanced over at Emo just in time to see him hit the superdemon between the eyes again. “That thing’s like a damn cockroach.”
Dialle leaned close and rubbed soft lips over my own. His unnaturally hot tongue snaked out to tickle the seam of my mouth and then trace my lips. “Yes,” he said, “but Emo does have his uses.”
I smacked him but couldn’t help chuckling. “I meant the demon and you know it.”
His grin widened, “Oops. My bad.”
“Yes you are.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Twitterfly Under Glass
Alas they found the devil king, in a prison clear as glass,
His angry bursts do make it hard, for young miss to save his ass.
Myra popped in as I was trying to decide how to get home. I wasn’t sure I dared risk spaceshifting that far on my own and Emo was still blasting the superdemon to death. I heard a small pop over my left shoulder and glanced at her. “Angel, you’re just in time to take me home.”
She frowned at all the dead bodies on the floor around her. “I see you’ve been busy.”
“I’d like to take credit for all this but unfortunately I had help.” I pointed to the demon at my feet. “I did this one though. Mostly.”
She looked at the dead demon and then very deliberately sized me up with her gaze. “The story of David and Goliath comes to mind.”
“Something like that.” I extended my hand. “You ready?”
She clasped my hand and sound and movement dropped away.
We landed in my living room and I headed directly for the drink valet to make two strong cups of coffee.
Myra followed me into the food service area and leaned against the counter watching me. I handed her a mug and she closed her eyes on the first tongue-scorching sip. “Ahhh. I needed this. Thanks, Astra.”
Cocking my head, I studied her carefully. She looked tired and, amazingly, a little scared. “How’s the search for the dark angel going?”
She pinched one shoulder up in an attempt at an unconcerned shrug. “One step forward five steps back. You know how it is.”
I nodded. A feeling of imminent catastrophe sat in my stomach like a tiny pearl. But the pearl was growing larger by the moment. I’d had my own fears and doubts about my father’s predicament but I figured at least he and Myra would be confident. Apparently I’d been wrong.
About Myra anyway. “How much pressure is he under from the army?”
Myra took a long sip of her coffee and avoided looking at me. “His association with your mother has damned him to many. He refuses to condemn her to the council and, in their eyes, he continues to plot with her. There are those who believe he’s been tasked with finding himself.”
The pearl gained a layer and wobbled around in my churning stomach. “What does He think?”
She shrugged again. “He sent us on this mission. I’m sure He believes in your father. He always has. But with enough pressure from the right places...” Her voice trailed off and the note of fear in her voice was no longer hard to discern.
“I set my coffee down and crossed my arms. Leaning back against the opposite counter I looked my guardian angel right in the eyes. “And what do you think?”
Anger quickly replaced the fear in her eyes. “How dare you ask me that, Astra? Your father is the kindest, most devoted member of the celestial thrones. I will fight with him and for him until I take my last breath! I would expect nothing less of you!”
I stared hard at her for a moment, dreading what I was about to tell her. When I finally spoke, the words came out in a clenched whisper, filled with pain. “That’s what I always thought too.”
She stood up straight and set her nearly empty mug on the counter. Then she took one step forward and grabbed me with both hands. She shook me hard, her beautiful face dark with anger. “Don’t you doubt him, Astra. Ever! He’s your father and he would do nothing to interfere with the divine goal.”
“I don’t want to doubt him, Myra. Don’t you think it’s eating me up inside? But I saw him with my own eyes. I heard them plotting...”
Her face lost all color and her hands tightened on my arms. “Tell me, Astra. Tell me what you heard.”
I shook my head. I just couldn’t betray him that way. I wouldn’t.
“Astra, if you want me to help him you have to tell me.”
I jerked out of her grasp and stalked into the living area, where I paced frantically for a few minutes, praying silently for guidance. Finally I realized I had no choice. Myra might be the only one who still believed in my father. I turned to find her standing just inches away, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
“Enoch came to me.”
Her lovely blue eyes widened in shock. “Enoch? Heaven help us. He’s turned against your father too?”
I nodded. “He tasked me with monitoring my father’s activities.”
“He asked you to spy on your father?”
“Yes.”
Myra dropped onto the divan as if her knees had given out on her. I’d never seen her so shocked. She thought about what I’d said for a few moments and then a hard light entered her blue eyes. “Tell me, Astra.”
I started pacing again as the pearl in my gut achieved uncomfortable proportions. “I went to the Phelps fortress and he was there, with my mother. They were talking about killing Dialle the First.”
“What!”
“That’s not all. I’ve had a vision too. Of my father, torturing King Dialle.”
That brought her to her feet. “That’s preposterous!”
I shrugged, nearly choking as the pearl seemed to extend up into my throat.
Myra had joined me in my pacing. For a few minutes I concentrated on not running into her. Finally I moved to the other side of the divan and paced there.
Suddenly Myra stopped and looked at me. “When, Astra? When did you see your father and that woman?”
“Tonight...or...” I looked at the world clock on the wall and realized night had become day. “Last night actually, around midnight I think.”
Myra’s eyes narrowed. She looked so angry I thought she was going to whack me upside my head like she’d done when I was a smaller version of my current pain-in-the-ass self and I’d done something to piss her off.
But then she smiled and it was like the sun coming out from behind a huge black cloud. “It wasn’t him, child.”
“What? How do you know?”
The smile widened and for a beat it looked like she would do a happy dance. “He was before the council at that time, with me in fact.”
> “No shit?”
“No frunkin’ shit, Astra!”
I laughed then. “Oh thank the Big Guy. Oh hallelujah!” But then I realized that gave me a new problem. Several in fact.
I frowned at my angel. “Then who was I looking at in my father’s house?”
Myra’s face returned to its earlier angry appearance. “I think I just figured out who the dark angel is.”
She just...disappeared.
“Shit! Are you frunkin’ kidding me?” I screamed to the empty room. “Arrrrgggghhhh! Come back here and tell me! Damnable angel!”
~SC~
A couple of hours later I was sitting on my divan, staring into space and wishing I could sleep. My mind was spinning with everything that was going on. Sleep was a distant hope...like next galaxy distant. I’d given up on trying to rest an hour previous and was sipping another giant mug of hot coffee. When I felt the air change, I didn’t turn. I just didn’t have the energy to look at him.
I assumed it was Dialle or Emo. I said nothing and continued to stare into space, too tired to start a conversation and not in the mood for entertaining.
Imagine my surprise when Enoch spoke. “Astra? Child, what’s happened? You look as if you’ve entered a catatonic state.”
I blinked and slowly turned my head. He was bending over me and his gorgeous olive face was inches from my own. He smelled like rosewood and candle wax. A scent I’d recently smelled somewhere, but my sluggish mind couldn’t grasp where.
I took another sip of my coffee, determined not to make it easy for him.
“Astra?”
“What do you want, Enoch?”
“Right at this moment I want your attention.” He no longer sounded concerned. Anger had replaced that gentle emotion.
I was feeling a little pissed off myself. I glared at him, my jaw clenched. “You have it.”
“I realize this is hard for you, Astra...”
“Do you?” That damnable pearl was back and it had grown. A lot.
He narrowed his chocolate eyes and then lowered himself to sit beside me on the divan. I figured it was his way of making me feel less threatened. It probably would have worked had I been feeling threatened. But at that point in the game, what I was feeling was much more violent and retributive.
