Necessarily Evil- Prophecy

by Shad N Freud

  Guns being sold to Islamic extremists, their locations sold to the government the extremists pissed off that week…his shield was the fact that he was a neutral party in any transaction, his word his reputation. The fact that he was going to be meeting up with the Inquisition in public would cause some waves in the criminal underworld, as they were the strictest of the law enforcement ministries in the entire plane and they rarely gave immunity to known criminals.

  Wong, however, was a known quantity and one of the few who knew what happened to the entirety of Draconis aurum, the entire Gold Dragon species. He glared blearily at the clock, noting the time, and used his cane to get his helper’s attention. “Bring the car around. I must make my way to the meeting with the Inquisition. Hopefully this meeting will end amicably. Somehow, I doubt it.”

  Some miles away, a breach formed to the Abyss and Marduk stepped through. The breach widened considerably as Legion forced the opening wider to allow his greater bulk through. Shades, vespids, and anzus likewise made their way through the breach, numbering in the hundreds for the corporeal demons and thousands for the shades. Legion pointed to the ground under their feet and Marduk smiled sadistically. Legion’s outer shroud of demons flowed off of him and into the ground, covering the graveyard like an oil slick on the open ocean. The area dimmed as darklight began flowing from under the soil and fetid zombies, skeletons, and even a ghoul or two clawed their way to the surface. At the same time, Legion’s outer layers began enshrouding his massive skeleton, enshrouding the remains that gave the collective their power.

  Legion’s eyes glowed purple as he pointed south, towards the docks. This particular cemetery had been chosen due to its proximity to the meeting place, its intercrossing ley lines, and the fact that actual corpses had been buried here. In more recent times, due to over population, many Chinese had been urged strongly by the ruling government to cremate the dead to make room for new development. This cemetery, being somewhat older than the current government, had plenty of dead to raise.

  In addition to the corporeal undead, many spectres also rose, the locals calling them “Hungry Ghosts.” All shuffled, crawled, or floated south and headed for their target: the piers of the Hong Kong docks. Larger demons forced their way into the world. The six-armed Mariliths with their snake like lower torsos hissed at the lesser demons and scourged those that failed to move quickly enough. Balrogs, twenty feet tall and wielding massive obsidian blades, scorched the grass with their inner body heat, smoke pouring out of their eyes, mouths, and at various points where flame escaped.

  Marduk looked up at Legion. The two nodded, then proceeded forward, following the horde.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Carl and his group were led to an underground parking garage where a squad of the Black Hand were on station, covering their egress. Their SUV had the Hand riding along outside the vehicle on the running boards while a heavy weapons team followed behind in another armored SUV. They received a police escort to clear the path and arrived at the docks without incident. Other SUVs loaded with Black Hand surrounded the area, with members of the Eye setting up overlapping barrier spells to cover the heavies as they set up their crew served weapons, mobile SAM sites, and battle casters. Wong and his small group of handlers arrived in a gold colored limousine, protected by another police escort. Wong grabbed a tarp that covered a cargo container and gave it a sharp tug, revealing a much larger container than expected.

  Jin whistled appreciatively as he looked at the tarp. “Portable hole built into a regular tarp? Cute!” Cenere nodded, staring at the charm spells inscribed on the container, enchantments that would cause observers to ignore the container unless immune to their effects, at which point the tarp came into play, making the container seem much smaller and be easily overlooked. Wong smiled at the two youngsters inspecting the runework, as it always made him happy to see young people apply themselves.

  “Quite right, little one. I am Wong.” He leaned heavily on his cane and closed his eyes as he pressed his hand on the container. “You’ll want to take a step back. This container is filled with pressurized cyanide gas, as well as sprayers loaded with hydrofluoric acid and a thermonuclear device in case the proper genetic material isn’t provided for scan at the back of the container. It requires Gold Dragon DNA. I have the last remaining source.”

  Wong opened his eyes and instead of the deep brown they had been a moment before, his eyes were a glowing gold and his smile filled with razor sharp teeth. The door to the container opened and a rush of displaced gas set off chemical weapon detectors as Wong walked into the poison filled box. Sprayers doused the old man with hydrofluoric acid, which ate away his clothing as he walked through, ignoring the lethal chemicals as he calmly, slowly walked to the end of the container and placed his hand on the wall.

  A red light turned green, then turned back to red. Wong came strolling back out, free of his cane and walking taller than he had in years, his skin taking on a golden sheen as he exited the container and took a deep breath. “I haven’t been able to take my true form in decades. Not since the end of the war.” He jumped on top of the cargo container, growing in size as he shed his human persona, before leaping higher and higher, becoming more and more draconic with the passing seconds until he jumped off the top, roaring to the sky in triumph. He was almost three hundred feet in length from his snout to the tip of his tail and as wide as three city buses side by side.

  Jin’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and he prostrated himself before the last of the Golds. Wong loomed over the port staring north before lowering his massive head to the little gnome. “From the smallest seeds grow the mighty oak.” Two of his four tongues lashed out and gently caressed the little gnome, lifting him to his feet. The dragon’s shining gold eyes closed as his throat rumbled in a deep, resonant purr. “Great things are ahead of you, little seed. Grow into an oak large enough to blacken the sky beneath you, but always protect those that seek your shade. Grow little oak! Grow!”

  A dark cloud sped towards them, against the wind, resolving into flocks of anzu and swarms of vespids as the cloud drew closer. Inquisitors opened fire as the first wave of demons came into rifle range and promptly clobbered the scouts with small arms fire. “Cardinal! It appears we’ve got company!”

  Carl smiled as he pointed to the enemy. “Those bastards out there are going to throw everything they have at us. I want you to remember this moment, ladies and gents. This is the hour when we will stand our ground and send these bastards back to the muck that spawned them. This is the hour you can remember when you’ve got your grandkids at your knees and tell them about the day their family helped save the world. We aren’t fighting for glory, or honor, but the right to survive! This is our day! Our Independence Day!”

  “Really? Seriously, Carl? Independence Day this time? Bill Pullman’s gonna sue!” Jin yelled out after Carl’s inspirational speech, causing every single hardened member of the Hand to lose their composure for a moment and share in a good laugh. Carl shook his head ruefully, chuckling himself.

  “Fine, the little guy’s right. I tend to crib my best speeches from old movies. But, screw all that! We’re the bloody Inquisition! Let’s show ‘em what the Devil’s favorite bastards do for a living!” Carl’s shorter speech seemed to do the trick as the men and women of the Hand opened up on the shuffling corpses and demonic horde while mortar teams dialed in on their targets, the bigger bastards leading the fodder. Wong roared in challenge to the demons as shades quickly discovered the fact that the Eye brought Ultra Violet light generating spotlights. One particularly obtuse sorcerer of the Hand pulled down his pants and slapped his ass at the shades that congregated at the barrier, who hissed in seething rage at the display of coarse vulgarity.

  A Marilith was hit in the face with a mortar-sized disruptor round that fragmented, scything through the massed demons like wheat as her upper torso was reduced to so much hamburger before it disappeared back into the abyss. The others barked orders in the gut
tural language of demons and lashed the lesser, cannon fodder demons onward. Gobs of flaming napalm flew through the air as Wong spat fiery death this way and that. He began weaving together spells as Carl and his group prepared for the real attack.

  Carl had told them the day before that the port would get attacked. That was a no brainer. Someone somewhere was either leaking information, or the demons in the Cesspit had a way to breach the anti-scry toe rings everyone was wearing after their little escapade in the Yucatan. Carl had his suspicions but was keeping them close to the chest. No point stirring the pot until it came to a boil. Regardless, Carl was looking out at the growing melee while the rest of his people set up their own layers of defense.

  Sachi was taking the occasional pot shot at the higher-ranking demons she could get to swan in front of her cross hairs. Jin was on the ground, his arms wrapped around his body, as changes began to take place; white mist flowed from his mouth and nose, and the ground beneath him began to frost over, his skin developing patches of scales with a silvery sheen as the irises of his eyes changed from brown to a pale gray, his hair developing more streaks of white as he rolled on the ground in excruciating pain. His mouth snapped shut in an agonized snarl as his teeth lengthened and became more like tiny knives.

  Zeke was standing over his small friend with his sword drawn, ready and willing to slay any that meant the gnome harm, the rest of the group nodding as they turned their attention away from their tiny friend to the problem at hand. Camilla’s grin took on an intense, manic quality as she began her cacophonous cackle while Cenere began singing a funeral dirge and uncoiled his whip, several throwing knives in his hand waiting to be used. Carl smiled. Despite their short time together, the group was becoming a well-oiled machine, utterly loyal to each other, and willing to die for their friends.

  Which would make it all the harder when the traitor was revealed.

  Finally, the real threat loomed over the battlefield, as the forty-foot tall Legion began making his way through the massed demons and undead, shrugging off explosives, shrapnel, and even spell fire as he lumbered forward. Carl signaled the group and they all donned noise cancelling earmuffs, Zeke placing Jin on his head as he continued thrashing on the ground. Carl nodded to Sachi and Camilla who opened fire on Legion. The massive Demon Prince blinked as the bullets shot by Sachi and the grenades fired by Camilla sank into his body instead of flying clean through before his eyes widened. During their brief detainment, Sachi and Camilla had pressganged Jin and his stones into weaving a darklight infused copper sabot around their disruptor rounds, allowing them to enter incorporeal and semi-corporeal demons or undead before detonating.

  These new bullets and grenades had the intended effect, as the demonic souls that made up the majority of Legion’s great bulk began to disintegrate, cast back into the Abyss. The grenades also tore and destroyed the skeletal form underneath. Legion retaliated by dropping his silence and blanketing the battlefield with the screams of the damned. Cenere grinned and grabbed the wireless microphone at his belt after throwing a few throwing knives into the massed demons beyond the barrier. He nodded at a few of the Eye members that each pulled out their assorted instruments, and a last Eye who looked like he’d lived his life as a roadie who activated the remote mixer system. The armored SUVs hatchbacks opened, and large speakers pointed towards the enemy hummed with power.

  “To all you demonic fuckers out there, this song is for you!” Cenere opened, winking at Camilla as he began singing a song by a famous band, a song of young people finding love in the night, a shared train…finding themselves in a smoky bar. Legion’s enraged scream was drowned out by the instrumentals of the impromptu Inquisition concert. His song began describing the agony of living alone, seeking love in bars that reeked of cheap wine and cheaper perfume Demons left and right began clutching their heads as the subvocal reverberations hid the pre-recorded banishment spells Cenere, Jin, and a dozen members of the Eye had worked out in advance, the chants given power by way of the aetheric energies being thrown about by Cenere’s voice. Many of the demons began to burst into flames, Cenere’s voice causing Hellfire to ignite within the Abyssal invaders. The undead began to throw themselves against the barriers with the Hand and Eye singing along as they shot, burned, and otherwise destroyed their enemies with extreme prejudice.

  Cenere continued singing, hitting high notes that caused burst eardrums, confusion, and terror within the Abyssal ranks with Legion standing transfixed by the music, staring in abject horror at the proportionally tiny Inquisitor whose voice wouldn’t have been out of place in a choir of angels. His pendant began to glow brighter, his voice gaining more and more power as he wound up for the charged finale, a primal scream of power suffusing the song, bolstering the faith of the Satanists as they distributed Infernal zeal upon the demonic pricks that chose the wrong world to invade

  Cenere’s final note caused the first few ranks of zombies, demons, and almost the entirety of the remaining shades to explode from the sheer volume of aetherically charged sound. A shockwave knocked most of the remaining demons and undead off their feet as Wong unleashed a firestorm upon the forces still fighting, putting his very heart and soul into a spell of fire that intertwined with the song, incinerating Legion as he screamed in terror, his very essence being ignited, his very form disintegrated, his very being unraveled. He wasn’t banished back to the Abyss that spawned him; he was utterly destroyed by a tiefling singing Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey.

  Further back from the battle, Marduk…smiled. This assault had cost him dearly, sure, and his only friend and ally in the entire Abyss was no more. There was nothing left. One of his greatest allies, as well as the chief threat to his interests, was gone. Legion had been reduced to no more than ash, scattered to the four winds. Many of the coalition’s forces were either banished, destroyed, or burning as they died and fled in retreat, routed by the surprise attack from the Eye, many of whom were still throwing up the Horns as bullets flew to their intended targets. The Hand chased down the remaining demons, killing them as they ran. Marduk took one last look at the disastrous battle before breaking a twig he’d pulled from his pocket and disappearing, vanishing from this world and returning to his palace in the Abyss.

  Cenere dropped the microphone, gave the finger to the retreating demons, and fell down, completely worn out. Carl caught him as he fell and gently lay him down on the concrete. “I always wanted to perform for an audience. Would have been better if they’d paid to see me though…” Cenere smiled as he lost consciousness and slipped off to dreamland. Camilla ran over, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Carl as she checked the Tiefling’s vitals; she blushed profusely when she looked up to see Carl give her a knowing smirk.

  Jin sat up, his eyes wide open and his pain now gone. Zeke looked down at his tiny friend in shock, seeing just how different his friend looked after his transformation. He had numerous streaks of silver in his hair, his face was more angular than before, and his nose more aquiline. The gnome now had two rows of teeth that were each like miniature daggers, and his skin had large patches of silvery scales. His eyes had become a pale gray that glinted in the rising moonlight and his body exuded cold. Zeke nodded. “You certainly look more bad-ass than before, little one. I think You’ll have trouble keeping Frost’s hands off of you when you see her next.”

  Jin looked up sharply as Wong came in for a heavy landing, struggling to keep his eyes open and to breathe as he lay on his side. He looked at the gnome as his vison became blurry and smiled. “Young one, I bequeath to you the contents of that container. It’s not my entire hoard; that is to go to my mortal family who took me in when I first arrived here in Hong Kong. Use its contents wisely.”

  Jin stepped forward, and smelled death upon the ancient wyrm. Tears came unbidden to his eyes as he held the dying old man in his arms, the death of one so ancient a tragedy in his eyes.

  “Do not grieve for me, little seed. I have been dying for some time now. The radiation from the bomb
put the steel crab of death within me, and I can hold it back no longer. I wish you had come to me sooner, little seed. I would have had much to teach you about your heritage, your people. When you see Amayako next…tell her I forgave her years ago. Get along now. Save this world I’ve left to you and protect these silly little mortals. They aren’t so bad once you get to…know…them…” Wong’s enormous eyes slowly closed and, with a final sigh, life left the ancient one.

  His body began to glow and turned into golden light that flew around and around, growing in size until the glow became a translucent dragon larger than the clouds, roaring silently in triumph before speeding into the sky and exploding with a bright flash of gold that faded slowly. Jin’s eyes glowed a bright silver as he screamed to the night’s sky in memorial, the scream becoming deeper and louder as Jin’s tiny form seemed to grow for a bare second. A translucent silver aura sprang up around the tiny man, an immense shape that coalesced into the form of a spectral silver dragon; tall, beautiful, proud, and roaring to the night’s sky before the aura faded and the little gnome slammed his fists on the concrete, small craters forming where his fists landed.

  Carl stared at the display and pulled out his pack of smokes in surprise. The little git was of draconic blood after all. Blood enough that his exposure to the ancient wyrms they’d run across so far in their journeys was starting to awaken his soul, his heritage becoming more and more obvious, his true form becoming draconic. Carl’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the gnome and noticed that the little guy was a couple inches taller than he was before despite being a fully grown adult. Zeke stood over him protectively as Jin continued putting potholes in the tarmac, tears streaming down his face.

  Carl cleared his throat and stared the gnome down when Jin glared into his eyes, fire and ice swirling within his orbs. Carl pointed at the shipping container. “Not that I’d try and keep you from grieving, but he did want you to have what’s in there. I suggest you give it a look see.” Jin’s murderous glare died down and the aetheric energies crackling around him dissipated as he calmed down. He stood and slowly approached the container, throwing a ball of light into the container that lit it up like the noon day sun, causing an almost blinding glare from all the bits and baubles within. Jin stepped inside and looked at the casual display of wealth, knowing this was just a taste of the riches Wong had squirreled away over the centuries.