by Michael Todd
“That was close, and you got my boots dirty,” Calvin growled, pulling the trigger. As the bullet penetrated its thick rough skin the demon burst into dust.
Soldiers and cops barreled across the battlefield, firing their weapons at every demon they could find.
---
A group of paratroopers showed up, led by Alex Rider, a three-time veteran of the Iraq war who had been looking for something interesting to hold his attention.
Fighting demons had definitely done that at first, but recently he had found himself rescuing his friends more often than killing the dirty little bastards from hell.
That moment was no exception. His buddy was down the field fighting off a pretty big demon. Rider stopped and watched as the demon swung wide, catching his buddy in the stomach and lifting him off his feet. The man flew through the air, hitting the ground and sliding to a stop. Alex gritted his teeth and took off toward his friend.
He wasn’t going to let him die there, not in that place surrounded by hell-beasts.
When he reached his friend he bent down beside him, looking him over for injuries but finding none. He tapped the guy’s cheeks, trying to get him to come to. Finally, the guy opened his eyes and shook his head to clear his vision. He smirked at Alex.
“How many times does that make now?”
“Twelve,” Rider responded. “I have come to your rescue twelve times.”
“You’re my hero.” He laughed, batting his eyelashes.
“Get up. There’s a medic tent near where we landed. Can you get there on your own and get checked out?”
“Yep, I got it.”
Alex helped his friend to his feet and patted him on the back, watching him make a run for it. He laughed to himself as he turned back around, to be greeted by the loud bang of a gun going off in front of him. He stopped in his tracks and the smile faded from his face as he looked down at his stomach. Blood had soaked through his uniform and there was a hole in the fabric. He put a hand over his wound and dropped to one knee. He looked up at the demon, who had a fallen soldier’s rifle in his hands.
Alex dropped his other knee and bent over, putting one hand on the ground and holding his stomach with the other. He knew this was it; he had finally met his end. As he collapsed onto the ground the demon pulled the trigger again, shooting him in the back and walking away as Alex died.
Calvin raced through the crowd, jumping off the back of a demon that had just fallen to the ground. He soared through the air, knees bent, slashing his short sword at the necks of every demon he passed. He landed and turned to look at the demons he had beheaded as he flew over them.
One by one the bodies fell to the ground, forming to a line of dust. He nodded, flipping the sword over so the blade pointed back and jabbing it behind him into an oncoming demon’s stomach.
He pulled back with the same force and listened to the demon hit the ground. A groan came from his side and he looked over to see a soldier wrestling a demon across the ground.
The demon was on top of him trying to cut him with his talons, but the soldier was holding him off with both arms, although his strength was starting to fail him. Calvin ran over and stopped behind the demon, reaching around and grabbing the beast’s chin. He pulled its head back and sliced his sword across the demon’s neck.
“Fucking blech!” Blood spewed from the open wound, covering the soldier.
Calvin pulled the demon off and threw him to the side, then helped the soldier up.
“Thanks!” The man wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve and nodded, then pulled out his pistol and ran into the crowd, firing at the demons. Calvin smiled, feeling the energy flowing through him.
He looked down, finding a dead soldier on the ground. He hated that—hated to see anyone dead by the demons’ hands—but especially the young soldiers who hadn’t known what they were getting themselves into.
Calvin leaned down and closed the guy’s eyes. He took a moment to pay respects and then stood, that energy morphing into anger. He grabbed the closest demon and threw him to the ground before driving his sword into his stomach. He looked down at the beast with red eyes and twisted the sword, listening to it scream in agony and pain.
“That’s what you get, motherfucker.”
Calvin pulled the sword back out and walked away before the demon disappeared, flipping it up and sliding it into the sheath. He pulled his rifle around in front of him and walked slowly through the crowd, dispersing a round with each step. He counted out loud as he watched the demons fall.
“Six... Seven... Eight... Nine...”
He reached the edge of the field and looked up at the gate, smiling as he pointed his rifle up and began taking out demons as they exited the portal.
“Twenty-three... Twenty-four... Oops, missed... Twenty-Four...”
After Calvin reached thirty he pulled the trigger, but his magazine was empty. He frowned, slinging the gun back over on his back and sighing.
“Can’t ever have fun. Someone is always holding the black man down.”
He shook his head and pulled his sword back out, taking off at a sprint. He leapt over several downed bodies and sprang into the air, landing on the back of a medium-sized demon.
He laughed as the demon attempted to buck him off, rearing back and slicing his sword through its thick scaly skin and into its neck. He jumped down before the demon hit the ground and turned into a plume of dust.
Calvin waved his hand around trying to clear the gritty stuff from his face, proud of how many demons he had managed to take out in that short amount of time. He looked across the field to find Katie putting the beat-down on a huge demon.
“She always goes for the big ones. Pandora just won’t let go of the notion that bigger is better.”
He clicked his tongue and shook his head, heading off into the crowd. He was just getting started and planned on having at least a triple digit kill number by the end of the fight. He was tired of being the demons’ bitch, running when they called.
“It’s time these fools learned some manners.”
The dust from the dead demons rolled across the field, hanging stagnant in the air and making it hard to breathe. Damian busted through the thick mist of gritty particles, his coat flapping behind him.
He landed on one knee and put one hand on the ground.
He raised his head, looking around with gleaming dark red eyes. The cross on his chest bounced against his shirt when he stood up and he grasped his pistols in both hands. He turned, flipping the hem of his coat around, pulling the trigger and taking down yet another demon.
He knew it might just be his last fight with the team, so he was going out in style. It was a normal thing for Calvin to keep track of his kill count, and Damian was determined to beat it. He whirled around, putting his hands in the air and firing both weapons at the same time. Two demons flew back, landing side by side with bullet holes in their chest. Damian walked forward to stand between them and drilled a bullet right between their eyes.
“Forty-Two and Forty-Three. Eat your heart out, Calvin.”
Damian smiled and kept walking as the demons turned to dust but stopped a moment later, staring at a twelve-footer running straight for him. He holstered one gun and fired the other, putting two bullets into the big bastard’s chest. The demon slowed, feeling the burn from the special bullets, and Damian didn’t miss a beat, running forward and springing off the demon’s leg. He leapt onto his chest and grabbed onto his long wiry beard, swinging behind him as he pulled the cross off his neck. He landed on the demon’s shoulder and thrust the specially-made cross against the beast’s head.
The demon wailed loudly as his skull started to liquify.
Damian held tightly, riding the demon to the ground before jumping off and watching the foul creature slowly turn to dust. He shook his head as goo and blood dripped off the cross and swung the cross on its chain, clearing the mess off before putting it back around his neck. He could have just waited a moment for it to turn to
dust too, but this was more satisfying.
Up ahead three soldiers were battling six demons and slowly getting pushed back.
Damian pulled out his pistol again and ran forward to stand next to them. They nodded at him as he fired round after round at the demons, who went down quickly, only to reveal another layer waiting in the wings. They were coming at them faster than he could pull the trigger. The kid to his right watched in awe as Damian hit target after target without really thinking, but finally raised his gun and nailed one of the demons right between the eyes.
“Nice shot,” Damian exclaimed, giving him a high five. “Couldn’t have done it better myself.”
They finished off the demons and Damian continued into the crowd. He emptied his clips and switched to his knives, slitting throats left and right. It was the first time in a long time he had been that enthusiastic about kicking demon ass, which was ironic since it would be his last incursion for a while.
Still, he was determined to make the best of it, and remind Katie and Calvin that he still had it in him.
Damian slowed his pace and looked out over the field, a feeling of remorse washing over him as he saw the fallen soldiers laid out, forever at rest. He knew how it felt to lose part of the team, and he felt guilty for making a game out of the whole thing.
He was there to help save humanity, not take a tally of the dust piles. He had to learn to focus on that, or he would never make it through the church’s new mission for him.
Remember your humility.
23
Katie dove to the ground, a loud oomph coming from her mouth. She shook her head and jumped to her feet, rubbing the grass off the palms of her hands. She watched the fifteen-foot demon growl and snarl at the other soldiers. They hovered close by, watching and wanting to help, but not knowing how to help someone like Katie.
This thing has a wingspan from hell.
Quite literally. Pandora chuckled. Watch out, he’s coming back.
Katie squatted and prepared herself for the demon’s blow. He swung his arm again, but this time she was ready. She leapt over his arm and landed on the ground. She was getting out of breath. When she first had gotten to him, she had managed to stop him from taking down a chopper by planting one of her poles into his calf.
It was still there.
All I know is, if we don’t have a chill night after this, I quit, Pandora griped.
You can’t quit. You promised to protect me, remember?
I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass.
Come on, give me a blast of strength.
Fine, fine.
Katie smiled and leaned forward, taking off in a full sprint at the demon’s legs. When she got close enough, she dove head first and drove her shoulder into his knee. At the point of impact, Pandora pushed her energy so hard a wave burst from the demon and Katie. The soldiers moved back, watching wide-eyed as the demon lost his balance and fell backward to land on the ground with a loud thud.
Katie jumped up and grabbed her pistol from the holster, running up his leg while firing at him. Two shots barely grazed his forehead and the others went into his stomach. He wailed loudly, clutching his stomach and thrashing. Katie lost her balance and hung on to the demon’s scales as he rocked wildly from side to side. When he had finally stopped rocking she stood up and aimed again.
Before she could get a shot off, the demon’s hand hit her full force and sent her flying off of him. A trickle of blood came from her nose as she rolled across the ground and when she stood up she wiped her nose on her sleeve and stared angrily at the blood for a moment.
“Oh, hell no, motherfucker!”
Before Katie could get back on top of the demon he made it to his feet. He dodged as Katie threw her knives, barely missing him. She pulled the other pole out and swung it at the beast, watching as he jumped back just in time.
This guy is faster than he looks.
You gotta get out of his line of sight!
Katie ran and slid, looking up as she passed under his legs to the other side. She grabbed her staff and pried it out of his leg, jumping high when she got behind him and planting it in his lower back. He wailed again, shaking from side to side to dislodge it. She hung on tightly to the staff, gripping the other one in her hand and stabbing it higher. She did this over and over again, climbing up the demon’s back by bracing her feet against his back and pulling the poles out before thrusting them back into his skin. She got all the way up to his shoulder blades and was ready to flip onto his shoulders when she saw one of the soldiers wave his arms wildly.
“Get the hell off of him! We have lock!!”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my bad!”
Katie pulled out both poles and pushed off with her feet, backflipping through the air and landing perfectly on the ground.
She looked back up just as the missile blew past her, striking the demon in the shoulder. She turned and covered her head as the missile exploded, taking out the demon’s shoulder and half his chest. Blood rained over her, and she stood up, the goo running down the side of her face.
She expected to see a cloud of dust but the demon was still there, still swinging his remaining arm. He had survived the explosion, and except for a bit of wobbliness, the thing was still able to fight.
I’m thinking he is invincible. The demons have made a new brand of demon.
No. Pandora laughed. He’s just a tough sonofabitch with a warrior’s soul.
Katie moved quickly to the side as the demon wobbled in her direction, the gaping hole in his body bleeding profusely.
She grimaced as she stared at the torn flesh and insides of a demon. She looked at the military guys, who shrugged, not knowing what else to do. They were out of explosives and had been sure a blow like that would end the beast’s life... but they had been dead wrong. He just kept going.
Pandora sighed. This is boring. Take him down, please.
Katie nodded and looked at her hands as they twisted and changed into long sharp demon claws. She jumped up on the demon’s leg and climbed quickly onto his shoulder. He wasn’t putting up as much of a fight at that point, considering a quarter of his body was gone. Katie slashed her claws across his neck to sever his head and tossed it down to roll across the grass. She rode the beast’s body down as it crumpled, jumping off before it turned to dust.
The soldiers all gave impressed nods and ran off, ready to tackle the next one. Katie, on the other hand, was ready for food, coffee, and quiet time, which unfortunately she didn’t see coming anytime soon.
She sighed and started walking back through the field, taking out those demons that crossed her path.
Four soldiers stood side to side, aiming their weapons at the demons. They fired round after round into the ever-growing mob to try to stay alive. The demons kept coming after them and the soldiers only had their rifles and handguns to hold them off.
Jim looked to his right before looking back to the front. “I really need to get one of those swords. I’m gonna run out of bullets soon.”
Bob laughed. “And do what? Hand-to-claw combat with the bastards?”
Jim shrugged. “Anything would be better than trying to hold back a never-ending supply of the things. Besides, I could die a true hero, mowing through demons with a short sword. It would be kick-ass and a very honorable death.”
Wendy called, “How about you think less about dying and more about beating the thing, because I am not ready to die yet.”
Jim sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Jim fired another round into a demon running straight at them from the mob. The bullet hit him in the neck and he dropped. Wendy shot the beast in the head to finish the job, and they looked at each other for a moment before diving back into the fight.
A soldier on the end screamed as a giant demon scooped him up and carried him off.
“Well, shit,” Bob exclaimed disgustedly.
They turned around to find another group of demons. The beasts circled, joining the others and
pushing the soldiers farther and farther from any kind of support.
They had been backed into a corner, and everyone else out there had their own problems to deal with.
Jim yelled as he emptied his clip into the front row, pushing them back just slightly. He pulled the trigger again, but he was out of bullets so he threw the rifle at an oncoming demon and flinched as Wendy took the demon out from behind.
One by one the soldiers emptied their clips, running completely out of ammo. The demons seemed to be doing it on purpose, as if they had figured out cause and effect.
The three young soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, bracing themselves for the inevitable. They were out of ammo, out of help, and out of the way, so no one was paying attention.
Wendy looked at the others and nodded graciously.
“It was a pleasure, gentleman.”
Damian, Calvin, and Katie came running in from different directions. They didn’t slow down even facing a large batch of demons. The three of them plowed into the crowd, Damian pressing his cross to skulls, Calvin using his rifle, and Katie cutting off heads with her demon claws.
The three Killers had had enough.
They were ready for the battle to end, but before it could they had to get everyone to safety. Calvin picked a demon up and tossed it to Katie, watching her clip its head off by using her claws like scissors. Damian took his cross by the chain and swung over his head like a helicopter’s rotor, smacking the same four demons in the heads over and over again until holes gaped in their skulls.
The demons turned to dust and Calvin pointed his rifle at the last three demons and pulled the trigger, hitting the first between the eyes. Katie slid forward, whirling at the last second and taking the demon’s head from its shoulders with a slash of her claws. The last demon of the bunch took off, heading for another group of demons closing in on the soldiers.
