by J. P. Rice
Kovana dipped and did two barrel rolls. Swirls of black, cerulean and milky white danced in front of me as my eyes worked desperately to refocus. As my vision sharpened, a blast of orange flames raced toward us.
Kovana veered to the right, narrowly avoiding the flames. The fire disappeared into the afternoon sky. Were the dragons coming after me? Or had they seen Kovana flying around and wanted her for lunch? Either way, two enormous black dragons were chasing us through the sky.
I felt the Sphinx’s heart pumping, but it wasn’t fearful. She seemed excited. Two frosty paws landed on the sides of my head. One quick jerk and her efficient claws would shred my face. Then a warm softness surrounded my head. Like a heated blanket.
Staring straight ahead, the sky rippled, and the anomaly rammed into the black dragons. The fire-breathing beasts looked like they had been hit with a dump truck. The impact launched them backwards and their enormous bodies rotated head to tail.
As the dragons tried to fight against Kovana’s magic, she turned and darted in the opposite direction. I couldn’t turn around to see if the dragons were chasing us. I was forced to stare straight ahead and trust Kovana.
Thirty seconds later, her racing heart slowed down and she said, “Those are the two dragons that were transferred here with me from Sleepy Willow. We ended up in Mike’s backyard and had a staring contest for about a minute until they flew away. Maybe they are on my trail.”
“But why wouldn’t they just come back to the farm to get you?” I asked.
“Maybe they didn’t remember where it was. Considering I’m the only thing flying around Pittsburgh and food is slim right now, they might have been hungry. I’m surprised they haven’t left this area yet. They must have something of great value around here.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” I mumbled. I knew damn well why the dragons wouldn’t leave Pittsburgh. They wanted their eggs back. But I would never give up my babies. Those dragons would have to kill me to reclaim those eggs.
It did cause concern. If the dragons could track down their eggs, I wasn’t sure if Owen could protect them. He didn’t have magic like the Sphinx, who’d basically just bitch-slapped two dragons across the face. Like the Morrigan, I wouldn’t want to get into a brawl with Kovana.
Now I had to get some of the anti-aging juice and then go infiltrate a demon cult.
Chapter 8
Cult. Derived from the Latin adjective cultus, based on the verb colere (to cultivate).
Why did they work?
A cult normally started with a narcissistic leader who craved adulation. The leader often had charisma and used it to lure in new members. They searched for followers they could exert mind control over and used any leverage at their disposal.
The Nazis used the financial depression in Germany to gain support. A person had a choice between starving or joining the Nazis. Not a difficult decision. Hitler’s supporters murdered in cold blood for their leader.
Charles Manson used drugs and the social landscape of the sixties. His supporters murdered in cold blood for their leader.
Although Manson and Hitler used different methods, they also had many commonalities. They controlled the minds of their supporters through an indoctrination into the cult.
Because cults usually practiced socially deviant behavior, they found members who were down on their luck, or had been screwed over by ‘the man.’ If the cult leader could find someone sympathetic to his or her cause, he or she could mold that person into a rabid follower through excessive devotion.
The followers, normally social outcasts, were just happy to have a group to belong to. In return, they would do anything. Murder. Steal. Suicide. Whatever dear leader ordered.
The Red Cavern operated the same way. After King Bres was chased from a Celtic netherworld for bad behavior, he assembled a following of demons. He started by convincing the creatures of the otherworlds that they were being treated unfairly and he would take much better care of them if they joined his side.
It was how he’d created the Red Cavern. Now they used the same basic model with the humans. The demons took disillusioned people and offered them what they wanted. A chance to learn magic, even if it was from the dark arts and socially taboo. For some people, it was simply a chance to belong to something. Anything.
Satanic cults had been around for decades, so the Red Cavern knew there would be a ripe market for worshippers. They weren’t wrong. Disillusioned humans had flocked in droves to their cause. Now they had a human population in the Red Cavern that lived among the demons. I’d always thought it was in case the devils ever needed to do a prisoner swap or use the humans as hostages.
The bottom line was that cults worked. I’d seen it firsthand during my last stay at the demon underworld. And now, for some ludicrous reason, I was throwing myself into that fire again.
I looked in the mirror. A man with dark hair, a big nose and blue eyes stared back at me.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a Steelers hoodie, he was a normal looking man. One that could go undetected. One that was ready to infiltrate the Red Cavern. Staring into the reflective glass, I studied every feature, so they were burned into my memory.
My eyes were a little wideset, allowing plenty of room for my wide honker. My blue eyes bordered on gray and contained a few flecks of silver. I had a lighter complexion with freckles and a scar under my right eye. The wide, bright white scar was about two inches long.
I smiled and checked out my yellowing teeth. A cult follower didn’t have time for brushing his teeth. He needed to focus on pleasing the master. I stared at my broad shoulders, sizing them up and searing the image into my mind.
Shifting for extended periods of time wasn’t difficult for me. But since the lava accident, I didn’t have complete confidence in my magic. The constant shapeshifting would cause me to age, which was my biggest worry. When I aged, I lost power. When I lost power, the magic controlled me more than the other way around.
It could work against me and change my appearance at exactly the wrong time. Keeping up with facial hair growth would be one of my main objectives.
Mike Merlino had come through and found a demon cult in a rural area just outside Pittsburgh. I had a long road ahead. This wouldn’t be a quick two-day process and it was killing me. Specifically, leaving my dragons was killing me. Now that I had seen one egg beating like a heart, it took all my strength to take this mission.
I was the only option for this task. Even with the Celtic Gods giving him endless resources, Mike couldn’t handle the job. That was why the Dagda had asked me to retrieve his Harp. Or was it? The best way to describe the trip would be a suicide mission.
Had the Dagda asked me because I was expendable? Because he didn’t want his precious Pony Boy to die? I slowed my racing heart, stopped staring at my new appearance and went back to packing a small backpack of necessities. I couldn’t let the fear in.
I went over my story again in my head. Thirty-two years old. Worked at a small coffee shop until it was squeezed out by corporate greed. Family ditched me when I was fifteen. Found a book on Dank Artistry and liked it. Talked to somebody in a bar one night and they told me about this place.
I don’t remember his name because I was blacked-out drunk. I just want to learn magic and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.
I’d met desperate people on my last visit and most of them were broken from life’s problems. They were looking for an escape from reality and learning dark magic provided that. From the demons’ viewpoint, they wanted to recruit humans with magical abilities. The leaders of the Red Cavern wanted to find humans who knew magic and bring them to their side instead of letting them get snatched up by some other entity.
Mike Merlino was the perfect example. I’d bet the demons wished they had gotten to Mike before the Celtic Gods. I had to show some magical prowess, but not enough to threaten them. That was what had gotten me killed last time. Someone—I still didn’t know who—had ratted me out and told the demons of my true powe
r.
I had to flash a little skill, so they would take me to the Red Cavern, but not enough to get killed. Sounded simple, right? Unfortunately, controlling my magic wasn’t as easy as putting it on a leash. My dark blood did what it wanted, when it wanted, so this would be a true test. And I needed to stay in the form of a man and talk constantly in a deep voice.
Just thinking about it caused warm panic to spread throughout my body. No. No.
I started hyperventilating and my vision blurred. Heavy pressure felt like a vise grip on my brain and my ears rang. My balance failed and I went down to one knee momentarily before teetering over on my right side. I rested my fiery cheek on the chilly tiles and hoped it would cool down the rest of me.
It didn’t. My body felt locked in place as an image took form in my head.
I tried to ignore the bubbling burns festering on my forearms and escape the Red Cavern. My heart screamed at me to go back for my children, but my head reminded me of the harsh truth. Only a dragon could have survived being covered in lava. If I went back, the devils wouldn’t falter twice at killing me.
I couldn’t describe the pain because it was worse than anything I’d ever felt. Everything hurt. It was like a wave of agonizing radiation constantly moving around my insides. I tried my best to ignore it.
Staggering aimlessly down a dark underground tunnel, I didn’t know if I’d find an exit or the person who had tried to kill me. Fear seized my body and I walked mechanically. At the end of the hall, I found a door marked, Do Not Enter. I shoved myself through the door and landed in soft snow that sizzled against my burnt body and caused a combination of steam and smoke to plume from my body.
I looked around at white snow and ice as far as the eye could see. Bright colors appeared in my peripheral vision and I jerked my head to the left. A red rose growing from the snow captured my attention. Thoughts of my burns and children were tossed aside by this mesmerizing anomaly.
“Beautiful, is it not?” a gentle female voice commented.
I whirled around with my body about to fall apart, and my eyes landed on a virginal looking woman in all white. The blond woman wasn’t wearing a crown, but she had a regal quality. A frilly gown hung from her slender shoulders all the way down to her ankles. My heart skipped a beat as the crippling fear of the moment centered in my chest.
“What is it?” I asked, trying to keep my mind from what seemed like imminent death.
“Tis a winter rose, of course,” she said with her hands folded in front of her belly.
I said, “I know. But it has to be more than just that.”
“It is hope. What do you fear more than anything right now?” Her long eyelashes fluttered.
I thought for a moment and lowered my head. “I fear that my children are dead.”
“Do you think they are dead?” she asked, her voice growing firmer.
I nodded, tightlipped. “I don’t think they could have survived what we’ve been through.”
“Pity.” She turned her gaze upon the rose. “Do you think a rose should survive in this hostile environment?”
“No,” I answered.
“Anything. Is. Possible,” she whispered ominously.
“I need to get out of here. Do you know where we are?” I thought her heavenly presence would calm me down, but my heart still raced out of control. The gravity of the situation hit me again.
“I do.” Her folded hands rose in front of her chin and she steepled her fingers. “I can get you to your father’s house, if that is your desire.”
How did she know I wanted to go to my father’s? “Yes please,” I said as the pain running through me made me want to collapse into a ball. But then the demons would get me. I needed help. That wasn’t easy to admit.
I wondered why she wasn’t leading the way as a slow smile developed on her face. Her crooked front teeth took me by surprise.
“I thought you said you can take me to my father’s?” I asked.
“I can give you something you want.” She paused dramatically, letting the tension build, then whispered, “But I would like something too.”
“What do you want?” I asked. The pulse pounding fear caused me to look around frantically. A smooth oval of ice caught my reflection like a mirror. I almost passed out.
My skin was charred black and gray with uneven patches of bright white boils. I could see but my eyes appeared as black lumps of coal. I was hideous. Worse than Medusa. Hair and breasts gone. Was I even a woman anymore?
“My spirit needs a place to take up residence. I’m looking for a humble host.” Her voice was soft and gentle again. “If you are willing to be my vessel, I will get you to your father’s house in no time.”
This seemed like a shady deal, but what were my choices? Say no and die in the snow. Or allow this sweet looking woman to enter my body. What harm could she do? I tried to renegotiate. “Could you save my children instead?”
She lowered her head. “I cannot.” She lifted her blue eyes to meet mine. “I only have but one offer.”
I waffled for a few moments, then realized I didn’t have a choice. “Deal.”
“It must be sealed with a shake of our hands,” she said and extended a petite hand. I took it into my mangled palm and lifted my hand up and down.
Her hand started to grow and darken, her suddenly fat fingers stretching around my wrist. Then her pale body turned black and began to expand. The gown exploded into frilly scraps, fluttering onto the snow.
I pulled my hand away and staggered back a few feet. When the transformation completed, I stared at a seven-foot humanoid with the skin and face of a black snake with human features.
Then, six spider legs sprouted from his sides, the fuzzy extremities wiggling around creepily. Agramon. His form was based on the individual’s fears. I hated snakes and spiders, so this seemed right on par.
An evil laughed shook the snow beneath us and echoed off the mountains in the distance. He said, “I never introduced myself. My name is Agramon.”
My heart sank. I knew it was that devious bastard, but it didn’t really hit me until he confirmed it. I’d been had. In my haste to escape this place, I’d hastily agreed to the deal. Agramon was the demon of fear. He was a slumbering beast of many physical forms who was awoken and excited by someone’s deepest, darkest fears.
He’d found me at my lowest point ever and took advantage. The demons had covered me in lava, making me afraid that I could die. I was afraid that I’d never see my children again. Agramon sensed my fear and struck. My thoughts were scattered and jumbled at the same time. I could barely make sense of what was happening.
One thing was clear. My brain was now prisoner to a demon. How could I have been so stupid? Oh, right, the agonizing pain and near death could have had something to do with it. I tried to think of a way to get out of the deal, but I needed to get to my father’s.
His medical staff was better than the best doctors in the world. If anyone could save me, it was them.
Agramon started moving his dark, scaly hands around in tight circles, expanding them as he went on. I could feel the malevolent energy coming from his motions, causing my body to overheat again. Little pulses of bright orange light sprang from his stubby fingers and developed into imperfect circles.
His hands kept dancing around as he shaped the glowing orange mass into a rectangle. He flattened it out and made it look like a doorway of rippling energy. “Your chariot to King Nuada’s awaits. You may step through when ready,” he said, gesturing with his hand.
The corners of his lips almost touched his tiny ears as an unsettling reptilian grin took form. “Until we meet again.”
His ominous warning shook me to my soul, wondering what I’d just gotten myself into. There was a small sliver of hope in his words. He seemed confident I would survive and probably wouldn’t have made a deal if he knew I was about to die. But I really wished he could have saved my babies.
With a heavy heart, I stepped through the portal and everything
went dark. When light entered my vision again, I stood on my father’s front lawn. Agramon had held up his end of the deal.
Light pressed against my eyelids, imploring me to open them. I did and found myself face down on my bathroom floor, covering in a glaze of cold sweat. Still in male form, I knew what had happened.
I needed to evict Agramon’s spirit from my head. He had to be the root of the flashbacks. The demon would lie dormant, waiting for my deepest fears to return.
I’d blocked Agramon from my mind for a while, but the prospect of returning to the Red Cavern seemed to be getting to me. Agramon seized on my fear and relished the opportunity to infect my thoughts. The flashbacks were usually a precursor for his ruthless interrogation room visits.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen him in physical form since he’d tricked me into the deal. For now, the bastard was here to stay. He was a big reason why I was so weird and mistrusted almost everyone. He’d helped me when I was desperate, but he’d taken advantage of me. I wanted to make sure that never happened again, so I shut myself off from some possible friendships over the years.
I got ready to leave, said a quick goodbye to Titania and left before the dragonfly could get emotional. Owen picked me up outside my house and drove me out to Indianola, a rural area near Mike’s house.
I went to get out of the car and turned to Owen with my head down. I put my hand on his forearm. “If anything should happen to me.” I lifted my head to meet his eyes and held the contact, suddenly remembering that I was in a different form. “Take care of our babies.”
He rolled his eyes and tapped the top of my hand. “You will be just fine. You won’t miss anything, I should think. Now get your weird man hands off me.”
He yanked his arm away, and we shared a laugh.
I took a deep breath and opened the door. Stepping out into the freezing air, I hooked my backpack over my shoulder. The house was located up the road, so I started hoofing it. In my Steelers winter jacket and worn-out jeans, I looked like a normal guy down on his luck. At least, I hoped.
