Dirge of the Dead

by Reed Logan Westgate

  Sariel was first to break free, soaring through the sky in a high circle at a tremendous speed. She circled Ertigan, who glided on his leathery wings, a trail of acrid smoke following his shadowy flail. They were beyond her reach now and all Xlina could do was hope that the victor would be in rough enough shape to ensure her survival. She glanced at Amber, still locked in a vacant stare, and felt her anxiety rising. If only Amber could regain her wits, if only the spirit could flee with her.

  Ertigan bellowed a frightened roar that seemed to cause the earth itself to shudder, sending Xlina staggering to the ground. A torrent of earth burst up in a rocky pillar propelled by hot magma like a missile. Sariel flew right into the projectile, her flight too fast to change course as the rocky mass burst into dust as the angel collided with it in midair. Ertigan was on her, then swinging the flail with abandon in heavy downward strikes. He glanced Sariel’s shoulder, and the snapping of bone met his strike. Her skin bubbled green welts that burst painfully, spewing puss and gore, and the angel cried out in agony. The vicious flail swooped around as Ertigan came back for another strike.

  Sariel dropped into a dive, falling below the flails path, and veering around in a sharp circle she swung back around, landing quickly on Ertigan’s back. Both feet planted on his lower back, she grabbed his leathery wing with her good arm and pulled violently. It was like watching someone break a chicken wing. With one fell swoop, she tore the wing clean off, ripping sinew and bone, tearing cartilage and flesh. Sariel pushed off the demon’s back, taking flight with a mighty flap of her angelic wings as the brute fell to the ground. His single wing flapped for all that it was worth, spinning his torso awkwardly as the hulking brute crashed into the earth like a meteor, sending an explosion of debris high into the air.

  Sariel hovered triumphantly in the air, a grim expression on her face. Her left arm hung limp at her side, her skin bubbling and peeling off as if scorched by acid. Raw bone could be seen at the should joint, busted and broken. Her wings struggled to keep her steady as the top right wing lost its full motion because of the acrid smoke of the flail. She extended her good arm and called out in a tongue Xlina did not understand. A ray of light surged forth like a laser pounding the earth where Ertigan had fallen, sending more rubble and debris high into the air.

  Sariel, satisfied she had dealt with Ertigan, turned her steely blue eyes on Xlina. Her expression was cold, lifeless. Like a corpse floating in the air. She appeared neither majestic nor holy. Rather, Sariel hung like the angel of death hovering above them.

  Xlina braced for battle, unsure what defense she could mount against the Seraph after seeing the angel fend of Ertigan’s powerful fury. She called on her nightmare energy, but the magic within was sluggish. It had been far too long since she had slept, since she had fed on the dream energy. She was exhausted. Still, Amber’s spirit hovered in the air before her. A vacant expression etched on Amber’s ghostly face as the soul tried to piece together pieces of its memory.

  “Come on Amber, snap out of it,” Xlina whispered, looking up at Sariel with dread. The Angel drew on her holy sword once more, a blade of fire emerging in her left hand. Xlina swallowed hard and looked at her surroundings. There was nowhere to escape from the fiery destruction the angel was about to rain down on them. She wondered if this was how the resident of Sodom and Gomorrah felt as they stared up into their destruction.

  Sariel lifted her sword high, ready to strike as her wing beat in unison, holding her aloft. A shadow cut through the air and Sariel screamed, a wail unlike any Xlina had ever heard. Valeria darted through the night, the demon blade in hand and slick with fresh blood. She landed on the ground below the angel in a cloud of dust as feathers and wings tumbled around her. Sariel fell from the sky in a heap, crashing to the ground behind the succubus.

  “Fallen angel,” Valeria purred as her long forked demon licked the blood from the sanguine blade. Sariel grunted, rising to her feet. Four out of her six wings sheared clean from her body. Valeria eyed the Seraph with contempt. In her demon form, Valeria stood as tall as Xlina, with alabaster white skin and leather gray wings. Her black hair cascaded down her back, falling just short of her tail that protruded from lower back just above her buttocks. Her face took on a more angular appearance, with high cheekbones and solid black orbs for eyes. Valeria stalked the fallen angel hungrily.

  “You’ll pay for that demon,” Sariel stumbled forward, wincing as her wings folded on her back.

  “Not likely,” Valeria lifted a taloned finger, pointing to the angel. “You failed to finish him, angel.”

  Ertigan’s massive form appeared behind Sariel and without her wings to speed her away, he easily caught her. His massive hand wrapped down over her head, and he swung her about effortlessly. Ertigan swung first to the right. Holding the angel by her head, he smashed a solid stone obelisk with her body. Whipping her back to the left, he crushed another tombstone wielding Sariel as if she were a sledgehammer. Ertigan’s skin smoldered red from the angel’s blast and he roared in defiance as he spun once more, throwing Sariel like a hammer in the Olympics. She spun in the air, striking a sycamore and blasting the trunk of the tree into bits. The tree collapsed on top of the angel, slamming the brutalized Seraph into the ground violently. Ertigan turned a steely glare on Valeria.

  “If it isn’t my old plaything,” Ertigan stepped forward, his voice teasing. “Come for another play session?”

  Ertigan lifted a hand, and obsidian spikes shot from the ground below Valeria. She leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding being impaled by the obsidian shards. Valeria leveled the demon blade at Ertigan and whispered an ancient curse. The slick angel blood on the blade seemed to pool and ripple off the sanguine sword as she thrust the blade forward. The angel blood leaped from the blade, forming spears in the air that rained down on Ertigan, skewering his legs and pinning him to the ground.

  “I’ve wanted to kill you for so long,” Valeria dove toward the impaled Ertigan, her sword perched above her head for a killing blow. Ertigan was ready. The hand at his side swiped forth the shadowy flail once more, carving a line of acrid smoke in the air. Valeria tried to parry, but the flail coiled around the sanguine blade, striking her wing and sending her crashing to the ground in a heap.

  “Run!” Valeria surged to her feet, her wing snapped and broken. She moved in graceful arcs, bounding from side to side, spinning the demon blade in deadly crimson dance. Ertigan snickered and sent the flail spinning once more. Valeria countered and turned, reversing her direction and spinning away from the deadly shadow flail. Her lithe body nimbly arcing to Ertigan’s exposed side, she sent the sanguine blade in at the brute, slashing a wide gash across Ertigan’s shoulder. His skin split cleanly under the unnatural edge of the demon blade, opening a wide wound. Xlina seized the moment and charged in striking from the opposing side she focused on the arm wielding the deadly shadow flail, focusing her remaining nightmare energy as Ertigan wailed in pain from Valeria’s swift cuts. Her fist sheathed in the purple energy from the nightmare realm collided with the brute’s elbow in an explosion of dream magic. Muscle and sinew were blasted clean from bone as Xlina’s first drove deep into demon flesh. Ertigan howled as his arm fell limp to his side. The shadow flail fell to the ground and melted into the earth.

  “That will be your last mistake.” Ertigan swiped at Xlina with his remaining arm. She lifted her arms to block the heavy blow and found his muscled forearm landing with the force of a truck. She stumbled backwards, her hands numb from the impact. Had not the massive demon’s shoulder been sliced open by Valeria’s swordplay, the blow would have easily shattered her arms. Valeria moved in again as Ertigan finished his sweeping blow, stinging the behemoth with another quick slash to the ribs under his outstretched arm. Ertigan howled in rage as he fended off the duo with his single arm. Batting wildly back and forth as Valeria danced around him.

  “Stay loose.” Valeria swiped at Ertigan’s defensive arm with the sanguine demon blade. Xlina followed suit, advancing a
nd retreating in rhythm with Valeria. As Ertigan swung at one, the other would strike. The pair working in tandem at the edges of the brute’s reach. Xlina felt her magic diminish. Each strike had less and less effect until it was just her bare hands bouncing harmlessly off the Arch Demon’s flesh. She winced as Ertigan stopped defending against her attacks. She was only a troublesome nuisance to the formidable demon.

  “I’m out,” Xlina panted heavily. Her limbs were heavy, and her body ached from exertion. She grew concerned for Oxivius, remembering the last moment she saw him squaring off with Valeria in a deadly dance of blades.

  “Insignificant bitch!” Ertigan swung wildly at Valeria, forcing her back on her heels. Bleeding from a dozen superficial cuts, Ertigan howled in an unearthly rage. He leaned forward and belched a ball of hellfire in Valeria’s direction, forcing her to spin away. It was a cunning ruse, however. As she completed her circuit, Ertigan’s thick purple tongue shot out, coiling around her waist and lifting her from the ground. He pulled her close and as she frantically tried to reposition the blade, his balled fist landed on her face with a sickening crack. The blade fell to the ground as Valeria reeled from the powerful blow. Ertigan was not finished. His tongue squeezed like a python around her waist, and he rained blow after blow on her head and torso. Her body rocked under the heavy blows as her bones crushed and skin bludgeoned open. Still, the monster would not be satisfied as he lifted Valeria high above his head. The massive purple tongue hefting the succubus with ease before slamming her down into ground violently. Dust and debris kicked up into the air as the broken succubus lay before the arch demon. Ertigan roared in triumph and pulled his reptilian leg free from the blood, spears skewering him in place. With a heavy crunch, he dropped his three taloned reptilian feet on Valeria’s back, drawing a vicious crack. Xlina recoiled as Valeria cried out. Her legs and tail fell limp. Ertigan stomped again for good measure. Twisting and grinding Valeria into the ground as he stepped over her, applying his full weight on her broken spine.

  Xlina cast a wary eye on Owen, unsure if the fear of the Arch Demon was enough to keep her command at bay. Owen slipped behind a tombstone and hunkered low. His eyes seemed to fade away into nothingness. Xlina tilted her head curiously as she watched the druid. The black ink on his forearm dribbled down his flesh, the symbol of the raven holding the scythe melted away as a thick tar like liquid coiled down his skin, forming a black scythe in his hand. His eyes melted away, leaving only an empty void in their place. Owen stood, no longer the gentle brew master. He was now just the weapon, the dark druid’s scythe, the Druid of Morrigu.

  Xlina shuddered, as if her soul were witnessing something more profane than she had ever seen. The black scythe sent echoes of evil through her body. She felt a frigid chill as Owen stepped forward. His cherub like features awash in the scythe’s magic. It was as if all personality had been drained from the druid and all that remained was the weapon standing between her and the Arch Demon.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Fates Folly

  Owen stood before the behemoth. Like David staring down the approaching Goliath. Xlina backed away, her magic depleted, with both Valeria and Sariel lying in crumpled heaps. She had called to Ertigan. She had brought the monster to the Necropolis and now he raged an unstoppable hulk of a demon. She turned back to Amber, desperate to reclaim the soul and run. She scurried down next to the soul, falling to her knees and pleading.

  “Amber, if you’re in there you need to snap out of it.” Xlina chanced a glance back to Owen, who stood with his back facing her as the vile Ertigan stalked over him. “Come on, Amber!”

  Ertigan raced forward, his left arm dangling at his side, all the tissue blown clear of the joint. His wing had been torn off. His body a collection of cuts and slices, but still the monster came. Still, he advanced, wielding hellfire and malice. He belched another gout of flame at Owen, who stood unabashed in the demon’s path. A wave of deep red flames engulfed the druid, but he remained unflinching. The scythe echoed with an unnatural power, sending a black sheen of energy over Owen.

  “Impossible!” Ertigan howled in rage as he swung his mighty fist at the druid. Owen merely lifted his hand, stopping the mighty blow effortlessly. The druid’s face remained devoid of emotion as his body moved. Ertigan howled in rage and swung again with all his might, and again Owen caught the monster’s fist in his open palm.

  “Foul hell spawn.” Owen stepped forward and pushed on the demon’s fist. His strength unnatural, he bowled the brute over effortlessly, sending Ertigan sprawling on the ground.

  “What magic is this?” Ertigan howled in anger as he thrashed on the ground to return to his feet. Owen continued his steady advance, slapping aside the demon’s arm effortlessly. He pulled back, wielding the black scythe overhead. Ertigan stumbled away, putting distance between himself and the curious druid.

  “The Druid of Morrigu.” Xlina could not help but call out as Ertigan retreated. A smile crossed her lips as Owen stalked the monster. He swiped with the scythe in an arc and Ertigan wisely fell back, avoiding the touch of the mysterious blade.

  “It’s over brute,” Owen’s emotionless voice came in a stoic, unimpassioned tone. He continued to face down the demon relentlessly. Ertigan howled in desperation, and he reached out. Amber’s mark flared to life with crimson hellfire and the soul wailed in pain. Had Owen still been the loving brew master, the shrieks of agony might have given him pause, but he was no longer the lovable brew master. At this moment, he was only the weapon. The Morrigan’s answer to the druids. The equalizer sent for the sole purpose of setting things right within the natural order.

  Owen swiped the black scythe across once more in a fluid motion. His speed far beyond anything the portly druid’s body should have been able to muster. The blade sheered through Ertigan’s arm effortlessly. As the lower arm fell from the cut, the dismembered appendage faded from existence, never even hitting the ground.

  Xlina swallowed hard. Her guts churned with the overwhelming sense of dread. Ertigan’s face twisted in what could only be fear as the druid bore down on him. Only in this last moment did Ertigan realize his folly. The Arch Demon tried to turn. Tried to run. He flapped his sole wing and scratched at the earth with his massive reptilian legs, but Owen held him in place with an outstretched arm. It was as if the druid harnessed the gravitation pull of a black hole. Ertigan wailed in terror and his cries sent an icy shiver down Xlina’s spine.

  Owen held the demon Ertigan in place with a magic force beyond anything the creature had thought possible. Ertigan thrashed and clawed, but to no avail as the druid closed in on the brute. He hefted the scythe above his head and brought it down in a sweeping motion like a farmer cutting wheat. In one swipe, the black-bladed scythe cleaved the brute in two, splitting the torso clean at the waist. Ertigan’s body fell, like his arm, before it faded into nothingness before ever reaching the ground.

  The druid cried out as his body convulsed. Black strands of magic rose from the scythe as if the blade itself were alive. They coiled in the air like vipers hovering for a moment before burrowing into Owen’s face. His skin darkened as the black tar like substance burrowed into his flesh. It slithered under his skin, writhing on his cheek like a mass of maggots in all directions. The coils poured into him, feeding the writhing mass under his flesh until the druid’s body had swallowed the last of the liquid. Tendrils formed under the surface of his skin and wove in a pattern, forming a new tattoo in the shape of Ertigan on his neck. The skin relaxed and Owen fell to his knees. The blade shimmered and melted from its solid form into a thick black ooze that worked its way up his hand and sunk back into his forearm. Once more, the black ink formed a raven holding a scythe.

  Owen collapsed to the ground, his eyes slowly fluttering. His body was drenched in sweat and his breaths came in gasps as he sucked the night air into his lungs. He rolled to his back, looking up at the moon hung precariously in the sky. Xlina could only watch in awe. The power of the druid beyond anything she tho
ught possible. She turned back to Amber. The soul lingered in the air, but the mark fell free from her face and neck. Drops of hellfire scorched the earth where they fell until her face was once more the pure image of the girl Xlina remembered.

  “You’re free,” Xlina mouthed softly, reaching for the girl’s ghostly cheek. Her hand touched Amber’s face and a jolt of energy passed between them like a static shock. Amber’s eyes blinked, an awareness flickering to life. The spectral form moved its hand to cover Xlina’s. “Ertigan is gone Amber, no matter what happens now your soul is free.”

  “Xlina, help...” Valeria’s soft voice called from the rubble. Xlina lingered for a moment, relishing the look of awareness in Amber’s eyes. Finally, she turned and hobbled toward the downed succubus. She looked down at Valeria, broken and beaten. She felt a swell of pity in that moment as she bent low to examine Valeria’s wounds. She lay face down on the earth. Her spine clearly shattered; her legs splayed awkwardly out in an unnatural direction. Her alabaster skin was marred with dark gray bruises and splotches of shadowy dried demon blood. Xlina bent low, sliding her hands under the demon’s shoulders and lifting gently. Valeria groaned as Xlina lifted her lithe form from the mound of earth.

  “You’re in rough shape,” Xlina grunted as she heaved Valeria’s prone form over her shoulder. She scanned the cemetery, seeing naught but chaos and bloodshed surrounding her. The Faithful had been overrun by the undead, with Sariel defeated there were no open portals back to Earthrealm. They had no escape from the hungry dead. The mob had been pulled into shallow graves and ripped into pieces. Discarded torches lined the cemetery, still burning they cast a fiery glow on the rows of tombs. The root barriers Arrivan had summoned had withered back to the earth whence they came. The Necropolis was a panoramic view of utter destruction. She hefted the prone form of Valeria high on her shoulder and crouched low to retrieve the demon blade.