Garden of Salt and Stone

by A. L. Burgess Jr.

  “Ah, yes,” Asmodeus said, leaning over the hulking Chinese man to speak into his ear. “You were captain of the guard until you betrayed us for Hannibal,” the demon snarled, glancing back to the old general. “How do your convictions feel now?”

  “I can only ask for forgiveness,” Guan answered.

  Asmodeus let out a hearty laugh. “I do not think my queen is the forgiving type.”

  Guan snickered. “I would not tarnish my soul to seek comfort in her blessing.”

  The response angered Asmodeus. “Then I shall release you from your prison,” the demon hissed, driving the blade through Guan’s back until it emerged from the man’s muscular chest.

  Guan swallowed the pain and stiffened his posture. He deliberately moved his beard aside to see the end of the sword protruding from his chest. “Do not concern yourself, Hannibal; these demons are not worthy of your time.”

  Incensed, Asmodeus kicked Guan into the chasm. The chamber filled with gasps of outrage from the remaining mercenaries but soon dwindled to a solemn silence.

  Hannibal’s temper swelled. He wanted nothing more than to exact retribution on Asmodeus. He struggled with his restraints and stepped away from the edge of the precipice. He nodded to the mercenaries to make ready for a fight.

  Asmodeus let out a hearty laugh and motioned for the guards to force the old warrior and his friends back into position. “You must not abandon your troops, General. After all, they are about to pay dearly for your mistakes.” The demon pulled Elizabeth out of the lineup and spun her around so she could face him. Asmodeus tugged on the sleeve of her golden dress. “I see it still fits?”

  Elizabeth turned away.

  “You were my favorite once, and yet you betrayed me as well.”

  “My darling,” Elizabeth responded softly, turning back to the demon and staring deeply into his eyes. “If it was not for you leaving me wanting, I would have stayed.”

  Giggles elicited from the women of the company while outright laughter filled the chamber amongst the men.

  “Silence!” Asmodeus ordered, sweeping his hands through the air and demanding obedience from friend and foe alike. He drew Elizabeth’s sword from a bundle the giant carried. “Lay her on the ground.”

  “Leave her alone!” Hannibal burst out and lunged at the demon, but Gunnar stopped him.

  “Please, old friend,” Gunnar said. “All of us have had the time to envision the limitations of our freedoms.” The Viking nodded slowly, making minute gestures to his hands and showing the old general he had freed himself. “I beg you. We will be ready when it is our time.”

  Asmodeus pushed Gunnar aside and bared his jagged teeth at Hannibal. “It is well that your subordinates know their place. I would hate for you to precede them.”

  Hannibal threw a glance at Gunnar and backed away. “Yes, it would be unfortunate for me to evade my sworn duty.”

  “I will make you suffer in due time,” Asmodeus chided, staring the aged warrior down.

  “You will try,” Hannibal countered defiantly and reassumed his position on the edge of the precipice.

  Asmodeus held Elizabeth’s sword up high for all to see and said, “A gift that has gone unappreciated.” He nodded to his guards and they forced the female mercenary to lie spread-eagle on the ground.

  Hannibal met each one of his comrade’s looks with one of determined anger. He conveyed his message of readiness to the members of his company with the utmost of covert nuances.

  In response, the mercenaries gauged the distances to their nearest enemies and prepared mentally for the movements their bodies would need to make prior to the fighting.

  Khutulun stood to the left of Hannibal and on the farthest end of the group. She signaled her acceptance of his orders but also her concern of the demon Sitri standing just to the rear of her position. Hannibal acknowledged the issue but had no guidance to offer. Sitri would be a wildcard no matter what precautions they were able to make.

  The tension among the mercenaries rose to a heightened level and all eyes followed Asmodeus as the demon knelt in front of Elizabeth.

  A sharp CRACK reverberated through the chamber. Dislodged building stones and broken rock rained down from the ceiling. The guards scattered, but several were caught by the falling debris and trapped. A stone slab about ten feet in diameter landed squarely on Butch the Giant’s torso, pinning the ungainly abomination to the ground.

  Hannibal searched for the cause of the disturbance and found Thomas clambering amid the thick vines of the supporting columns. He positioned himself above the contingent of henchmen and used his power to dislodge the blocks to send them careening to the ground. Hannibal relished in the chaos of the moment. He heard the cries of conflicting orders echo through the chamber and took the fortuitous circumstance to signal his mercenaries to free themselves. Hannibal raised his hands to Gunnar, and the Viking produced a hidden dagger that cut through the leather cord.

  The members of the company swarmed the fallen giant and gathered their weapons. They immediately confronted the guards and formed a tight-knit fighting unit that wasted no time in going on the offensive.

  Holding the book tightly in his hands, Peter pushed through the last of the thick vegetation and into the circular clearing. Once free of the obstruction, he made a run straight for Nicholas. The old monk stood virtually alone near the outskirts of the group. Nicholas seemed curious by the commotion, but not so much as to seek shelter to avoid the falling rubble. It was not until Peter had crossed most of the fallow earth that Nicholas even bothered to notice the approaching professor, but once the old monk did, his eyes looked at nothing else.

  Hannibal’s heart lifted at the sight of Peter clumsily running across the open terrain toward the monk. The two least likely members of the company had managed to plan and execute a brilliant maneuver.

  “The book-bearer!” Sitri screamed over the fighting while gesturing wildly at Peter. “Stop him!”

  The guards wheeled away from the mercenaries and ran at Peter.

  “Block their advance!” Hannibal ordered.

  The mercenaries responded immediately, tackling guards that were still within reach and firing arrows to slow down all others.

  Sitri hurled himself into the air over the melee. He set his eyes on Peter and dove forward.

  Khutulun readied her bow and sent two rapid-fire arrows through the tough membrane of Sitri’s wings. She watched as the demon spun about in midair and crashed to the ground.

  Hannibal spied Asmodeus leaping into the air, intending to execute a semi-flying, low-arc jump into the unknowing Peter’s path. Hannibal slashed at the demon’s legs. The intense pain caused Asmodeus to retract his outstretched body and land well short of the passing human.

  Fear drove Peter forward. He held the ancient manuscript tightly to his chest and attempted to stay calm, at least as calm as he could under the circumstances. The professor channeled his paralyzing fright into his muscles, calling on his limbs to carry him faster than he thought possible. In his peripheral vision, he could see the mass of men and women doing battle. He could hear the barking of orders and the clash of metal-on-metal resonating through the hall. Through it all, he kept his mind focused on Nicholas.

  Due to his shackled legs, the monk had moved little from his original spot. Instead, Nicholas extended his arms and urged Peter closer with frantic gestures. His eyes were wide with excitement, yet the monk said nothing; he gave no words of encouragement or caution to the approaching book-bearer.

  Peter covered the final steps in the blink of an eye. He gripped the book at one end and held it out, stretching the last few feet to place it squarely into Nicholas’s waiting grasp.

  Nicholas gave Peter a mordant smile and thrust the book aloft. Intense multicolored energy flowed from the manuscript and surrounded the monk. It gathered in brilliance, enveloping Nicholas until it erupted into a blast of power and blinding light.

  The shockwave tore through the combatants. Sitri and Asmodeus
contracted their wings and clawed at the ground in order to withstand the concussion, while the humans were thrown into the surrounding vegetation. Peter was the exception. He remained unscathed as he stood scarcely a few feet away from the monk’s raging power.

  The light consumed Nicholas’s body. His features were all but obscured, leaving only the outline of the human he once was. Energy danced upon his visage, pulsating with each breath. A light lavender hue grew at the manifestation’s core. The color expanded outward, swallowing the opalescent form and forcing the underlying creature to change shape.

  The moving mass of energy morphed into Darius, the prisoner Peter had met in the old dungeon of the city. Peter was able to gaze at the unkempt man’s face for only a few moments until the purple vibrancy elicited another transition. The form collapsed in on itself, shrinking to a size not much bigger than that of a child. It swirled about and solidified into the little boy Peter had chased through the streets of San Cielo. He stood before Peter and smiled mischievously, bowing his head in a curt, but respectful manner. As quickly as the boy had come into view he was gone, swallowed back into the seething vortex of power. Growing in height and width, the disturbance rose to tower above Peter. It elongated, slowly condensing into the solid and visible shape of a demon holding the ancient manuscript in its burnt and scarred hands. The demon stretched its wings to their fullest extent and snickered at the stunned human before evanescing back into a nondescript mass of lavender light.

  Peter did not immediately understand the implications of what was happening, but deep down he knew something was wrong. He stepped back from the disturbance and turned to find support in Hannibal and the company. Most of the mercenaries had righted themselves, but instead of continuing the fight, they found themselves transfixed by the vision unfolding before them. As the demon’s form faded, Peter realized the trouble at the same time the predicament coalesced on the faces of the company. “Hannibal!” he yelled across the clearing, but was stopped midsentence by a soft, feminine hand tenderly resting on his forearm. Startled, he turned to find the bookstore owner, Kea, greeting him with a warm smile.

  “Surprised?” Kea asked.

  Peter noted that although Kea wore the same clothes as she did at the bookstore her voice was significantly different. She no longer bore the local accent that added to her seductive qualities. Her stance and demeanor had changed as well. She was still confident, but the genuinely caring and sympathetic woman Peter had known had been replaced by a version that was arrogant, evil, and malignant. He wondered about her transformations and which, if any, of her personas represented the true being she was.

  Weapons at the ready, Hannibal’s company charged the demons.

  With little effort, Kea used her power to send the mercenaries sprawling back into the thick vegetation. Her display proved her dominance without question. The humans’ arrayed arsenal was naught but toys when opposed to her might. “Fools!”

  Peter watched his comrades fall and turned to face Kea. “It was all a game then?”

  “Hardly,” Kea rasped, gripping the ancient manuscript tightly. “That useless monk tried to thwart us by hiding the book, but it wasn’t until a living soul—you—came into contact with it that we could put our plan into place. Only a nephesh can bring the Book of Souls across the threshold of death—didn’t you know?”

  Peter had been living a lie. The roads of chance and circumstance had been engineered to lead to the one place no one would willingly choose to go. The deception started the moment he took possession of the book. Everything since had been nothing more than a calculated scheme to inspire Peter to willingly turn the ancient manuscript over to the only person he thought could help. Kea and her henchmen had been choreographing every word spoken and every act committed. Hannibal and the mercenaries, although roaming free, never posed any real threat to her plans. The fact that the company had rescued Peter temporarily from the clutches of the demons had done little to influence the outcome. No matter the course, the Book of Souls would have eventually seen its way to the queen.

  Kea drew closer. “You could have been here with me—shared in the glory of what’s to come.” She gave Peter a coy smile. “Things could have been much different between us—well, that is, until I tired of you.”

  “You’ll destroy everything then?”

  “Not all of it,” Kea replied. “You see, the trees are much more than a simple link to humanity; they’re a gateway to Creation itself, a door through which all of the Fallen may pass.”

  “Things won’t be different, you’ll just fail again,” Peter stated, drawing visible ire from the queen.

  “Lucifer has found a way to merge the realms of Creation and Hell. His power will be equal to the Almighty,” Kea said, “and with an army behind us, we will not fail.” She looked absently at Peter. “Where was I again? Oh yes,” she said and effortlessly morphed into the demon queen, Lilith. Holding the book in her right hand, she elongated her left into a sharpened spear point and stabbed Peter through the chest. The demon hoisted the writhing professor off the ground and flew him over the chasm to the top of the outcrop and the base of the Two Trees. She pulled her hand from Peter’s chest and sent the grimacing nephesh splashing to the edge of the riverbank. “Now, bear witness to your own naiveté.”

  Peter hit the ground coughing and clutching at his chest. He rifled through his clothes to examine the wound, but all he could catch was a glimpse of the bloodless injury closing in upon itself. He could no longer die, but the debilitating pain he experienced was far greater than what he would have expected in life. Gathering his breath, Peter pulled himself out of the stream and up onto the dry bank where he lay quietly in the soft earth, rebuilding his strength and keeping a wary eye on the queen.

  Lilith wasted no time in approaching the intertwined trees and opening the ancient manuscript. She studied the pages eagerly and spent long moments flipping back and forth as if trying to understand the text. The demon paced the bank of the river, growing ever more furious at the book. Lilith ignited her power and forced lavender energy through the manuscript’s pages. In a fit of rage, she threw the book at Peter and screamed, “What have you done?”

  For the first time since arriving in Eden, Peter felt the giddy sensation of empowerment surge through him. He embedded himself in the moment and allowed it to consume him. The ever-present fear that haunted his every step left his body, leaving only an unconquerable resolve. Peter adjusted his glasses and gingerly retrieved the book from the damp, loamy soil. “Missing something?”

  Lilith’s anger grew to immeasurable proportions as she made the stale air of the chamber vibrate with electricity. In one motion, the demon queen pushed her arms forward and let loose a devastating stream of energy aimed squarely at the pretentious nephesh.

  Peter’s close proximity to the demon and his poor reflexes did not allow for much of a defense. He held the book up as a last resort to protect his face from whatever was about to engulf him. The force of the impact pushed Peter backward several feet, but he dug in and let the energy spill around him. The strange spell made his skin crawl like a thousand ants scurrying about, but he fought the sensation off and weathered the attack.

  As the glare faded, Lilith stood in disbelief. The amount of malice and anger she poured into the assault should have flayed the weak human’s flesh from his bones. Peter should have been nothing more than an insignificant stain across the floor of the Garden remnant. Instead, the insubordinate soul mocked her with an ever-widening smile that grew across his smug face. Incensed, Lilith gathered her power for another attack.

  Peter searched for an escape route. The small plateau the Two Trees occupied was devoid of anything that could make for defensible cover. There were plenty of knee-high boulders and tree roots, but they were not nearly large enough to protect him. All around Peter, the chasm’s gaping maw presented an insurmountable obstacle to jump. The river created by the gushing wellspring was so strong Peter doubted he could take refuge in
it without being swept over the edge. Out of options, he dropped to one knee to reduce his profile and held the book in front of him like a shield.

  The shockwave reverberated through the chamber. The massive amount of energy brought to bear on the book began to melt its outer coverings. Iridescent, silver-white liquid dripped onto the ground and created a small puddle. The book grew heavy in Peter’s hands, so much so that he was no longer able to hold it aloft for protection. As his guard fell, the disintegrating tome transformed into a shimmering, semi-solid mass that leapt forward, into the teeth of the queen’s attack. Continuing to deflect the onslaught, the undulating being took on a human form, resolving into a disheveled and quite perturbed Isla Dora.

  The sound of rushing water rose to the forefront as Lilith ceased her attack and an eerie calm fell over the Garden remnant. The demon queen stepped forward to stand menacingly over the frail woman. “You have interfered with me for the last time.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Isla Dora chided.

  The flash of power from Lilith was instantaneous. The queen screeched in anger as she poured might upon the old woman. Lilith enveloped Isla Dora in purple energy and lifted her off the ground to stare into the old woman’s withered face. “You are nothing compared to me!”

  Isla Dora quickly changed shape and melted to the ground. She reemerged in human form outside of Lilith’s influence and struck back with forceful blast that sent the demon queen reeling. “I fight for the righteous and for those who would defy your rule—how could we possibly compare?”

  Lilith sank her hind claws into the earth and kicked forward. She brought her wings in close to her body and flew headlong into Isla Dora. The old woman stepped to the side but was caught by the demon and forced to the ground.

  Lilith sent energy surging through Isla Dora’s body. The old woman shifted her appearance rapidly. Isla Dora tried every combination at her disposal, including summoning her own power to force the queen back, but nothing worked.