by Leia Stone
Something was very, very wrong.
14 Beaten with the Ugly Stick
Brock stuck to me like glue, but the more I ran and settled into the repetitive rhythm of my strides, the easier it was to push away the waves of power and the consequent pain they caused. The nausea receded and I stretched my legs to reach farther and faster.
The gate was on the other end of the property, farthest from Brock’s house and mine. Given the circumstances, that was a very good thing. I didn’t want this creature that had slipped through anywhere near people I cared about. I had the distinct feeling the creature would want to eat my friends.
‘Cass? You coming?’ I asked while we ran.
‘On your tail. Everyone’s with me too, even T.’
‘Good,’ I said. We’d need every one of our strengths. I couldn’t explain the clear knowledge that a demon had just crawled out of the gate, but I’d bet my life on it. A new kitsune power, and a useful one.
‘The baby,’ Brock warned. ‘You’re going too fast.’
‘Honey, I’m not going fast enough,’ I said. ‘If whatever this is makes it off the property, we’re fucked.’ And I didn’t mean “we” as in my group of friends and my baby daddy, I meant the entire town. We’d barely managed to kill the demon giant the last time something escaped from the gate, and I recoiled at the thought of what it would have done had it made it into town.
Brock, Ray, Sabine, and I loped silently through the woods. When I spotted the creature in front of us, my step faltered and I stumbled before catching myself.
“What the...?” Brock whispered.
I snapped my mouth shut. I had no fucking idea what the hell this creature ahead of us was.
Brock, his wolves, and I, whirled at the sound of crunching branches to our right. A relieved exhale escaped me when Haru and Reo moved through the forest as light on their feet as deer. They took one look from me to the creature standing near the area of the gate and the immovable Japanese warriors’ faces settled into lines of shock.
Ah, so they didn’t know what the hell it was either.
Half a minute later, Cass whirred up on his hoverboard, and Tianna and Molly skidded to a stop next to us.
“Holy motherfucking fuck,” Molly whisper-screamed, far less creative than usual, but I wasn’t about to blame her.
The monster was easily fifteen feet tall, but I couldn’t decide if it was half lizard man, half deformed troll, or half an uneasy mixture of the entire contents of the underworld. The thing had five arms, all hanging in the wrong places, and only some ending in a semblance of hands. It had three legs, though only two reached the forest floor, the other one hanging from his waist like a spare part. This thing had definitely been beaten with the ugly stick. Repeatedly.
Its face was human-like, if said human were standing in front of a funhouse mirror. To further make the image the stuff of nightmares, it had a head of dreadlock-looking hair, only the dreads were moving, like Medusa gone terribly wrong.
Cass’ hoverboard sputtered as he lost momentum in his shock. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered.
“What? You know what that thing is?” Brock asked immediately.
The creature was standing far enough off that it hadn’t spotted us yet. It was looking stupidly at its feet, probably wondering what world it had just stepped into.
Cass nodded slowly, as if he were struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.
“Then what the hell is it?” Brock pressed.
Cass popped his hoverboard into his hands and shuffled between me and Tianna. “It’s an apollyon.” His voice suggested we were witnessing a walking legend, the monster kind. He shook his head. “This is so not good. This means the situation is even worse than we thought.”
“It doesn’t seem like it could get much worse,” I muttered.
“Oh, but it has, girl. No doubt about it. An apollyon is a sign that the underworld is malfunctioning. The magic of the underworld is glitching—that same magic that’s responsible for creating your demons, trolls, goblins, sea monsters, what have you, along with the adorable demon imps like me, though I’m one of a kind, of course.”
Cass scanned our horrified group. “It means instead of creating your standard variety of monsters, the underworld is giving birth to an entirely different kind of beast, the kind that takes parts from the entirety of the magic of the underworld.”
“If that’s so,” Reo said, “then maybe the creatures won’t be that strong. If they don’t have balance in their design, they might not function properly.”
“Maybe,” Cass said. “But eventually one could be made that combines the most fearsome of all underworld monster traits. It’s bound to happen. The magic of the underworld strives for one sole purpose: to spread as far and as widely it can, and as powerfully as it can.”
Birds chirped into the dead silence that followed Cass’ pronouncement. Lucky birds, they didn’t understand the literal hell that was about to befall their happy little world.
“Apollyons have only happened once before in the entirety of our history as far as I know. Think of them like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, or a plague of locusts. We have to do everything in our power to stop what happens next.”
“I have to close the damn gate,” I said.
“Yes, Evie, you do,” Cass said, “and you need to do it like your ass is on fire. But first, we have to kill that thing. Because that’ll eat babies and lick its lips afterwards.”
As if the monstrous apollyon realized we were planning its demise, it turned and set hideous, bulging eyes on us that glowed like the fiery pits of the underworld.
Everyone in our group froze for a few breaths. Then Haru and Reo closed ranks around me with the shliing of drawing swords, and Brock pressed himself to my side. Molly cocked Gran’s shotgun, the sound ringing out into the forest that was about to lose its peace.
“My katana please,” I said, extending my hand to my warrior protectors. Of course, they were prepared for battle, and Reo placed the hilt of my katana in my hand.
Immediately, it sprang to life at my touch. Purple light whisked across its blade in a flash.
This time, however, I had the feeling a sword wasn’t going to be enough. I’d need every bit of my kitsune and witch magic to take down that thing.
My friends pressed in on me, forming a huddle as the creature rotated its body toward us. Shoulders off kilter but wide as a car, it bore down on us—on me.
The beast opened its crooked mouth wide, revealing several rows of warped teeth, and roared. My heart shook at the sound, missing the rhythm of its beat before settling back down. My super kitsune sense of smell recoiled at the stench of rotting ... everything.
I shook my head to clear it of the fear that tried to overcome my thoughts. “Time to kill an apollyon,” I said, grateful for the strength I was able to inject into my voice.
One thing was for sure, I was going to sleep like the dead tonight. My nap was long overdue.
Breathing deeply to steel my nerves, I charged at the beast, careful not to meet its eyes. They were the most terrifying thing of all.
15 Demon Guts
“You’re pregnant!” Brock called to me as we ran at the beast.
“No shit!” I growled.
Brock started shedding his clothes while we moved, the snapping of bones echoing throughout the forest. Without a shotgun, the alpha would be more useful in his wolf form. I, however, couldn’t do shit as a fox against a monster this size, so I was remaining human with my katana.
The beast, which had begun running full speed at us before, skidded to a sudden halt at our mass advance. Molly, Tianna, Cass, and my Japanese warrior protectors continued to surround me as best they could while we ran. Brock, Sabine, and Ray contorted as their shifts ripped through their human bodies. Brock’s wolf was large, Ray’s only slightly smaller. Sabine, though significantly smaller than the alpha and his second, bared vicious teeth at the monster.
At the creature’s pause,
I skidded to a stop a few feet from it, and my friends slid to a halt next to me.
“I think we scared him.” Relief poured through me. Maybe he’d retreat. “We don’t want to hurt you. Go home,” I shouted, shooing with my arms toward the gate. Of course we’d have to hurt it, but in the off chance it spoke English, I was going to be diplomatic.
A thin tendril of gray smoke started to curl its way out of his nose as the beast exhaled a huge, rancid breath.
“Evie, duck!” When Cass’ panicked voice reached me, I jumped out of the way, drawing the beast’s attention away from my friends, while making myself the smallest target I could.
From where I crouched in a ball on the ground, I watched as the giant five-armed idiot spewed fire onto the forest floor.
What. The. Holy. Hell?
I sprang from my squatting position and pulled my purple-hued blade in front of me.
“Is it part dragon?” I shouted to Cass, who was perched once more on his hoverboard.
“Looks like it,” my bestie replied, though I’d been kidding of course.
Dragons weren’t real.
Right?
‘Act now, think later,’ Cass reminded me.
Right.
Last time I’d simply cut the demon giant and it had exploded—more or less—so maybe the same might happen this time. If we were lucky, it might be that easy.
Now, how to get within range of a five-armed, fire-spitting dragon … thing?
The apollyon took one look at Brock, my glowing sword, and the rest of our crew, and turned about-face, running away from the gate and us, heading in the direction of the town.
Shit!
He was smart enough to know when he was outnumbered, but there was no way we could allow it to reach the city.
I was just about to take off after it when I heard a strangled gasp come from Molly.
“We’ve got another live one!” she shouted as she stepped in front of me, popping off her shotgun before I could even process what was happening.
I pivoted in the direction of her shot, where a nasty little winged creature had just popped out of the gate. It had leathery bat-like wings and glowing red eyes. On an ordinary day, it might’ve been intimidating despite its smallish size. But compared to the damn apollyon, it didn’t stand a chance of stealing my attention.
“Kill that thing! I’m going after the apollyon,” I shouted at Molly, Cass, and Tianna.
Brock, Reo, Haru, and about twenty members of the pack, which had caught up with us, followed me down the hill toward my cabin. The beast was crashing across Brock’s land, crushing plants and small trees as it went, lumbering in the direction of the main road. Due to the size of its stride, it was covering ground quickly—too quickly.
“I need to get within range to slice it,” I told Brock and some of his wolves as we ran.
Brock’s wolf head nodded. ‘We’ll circle it and cut off its retreat so you can use your weapon.’
Good plan. Maybe having the pack help out would turn out to be a good thing.
“Hey, you big dumpy oaf,” I screamed after the apollyon.
It halted just behind my gran’s cabin and turned, malice glowing in its eyes.
“Fan out,” I called to the wolf pack.
They hesitated until Brock repeated the order, then they obeyed. Good ol’ werewolves and their hierarchy.
“Look at the shiny, pretty purple light.” I waved my sword at the monster in a figure-eight pattern, tracers branding the outline in the fading light of dusk. The beast watched it as if in a daze. Its big, googly eyes rolled left and right as they followed the glow.
Score! I had been hoping it was relatively dumb.
While it was busy watching the arcing purple light, the pack surrounded the beast in a dense semicircle. I continued to spin the light, stepping slowly, drawing closer and closer to it. Reo and Haru closed in on either side of me, about ten feet away from the apollyon.
‘Now!’ Brock commanded.
The pack attacked.
Brock, Ray, and one of the other dominant wolves leapt into the air, each latching jaws onto one of the beast’s five arms, while the more submissive, yet equally fierce, wolves tore into its ankles.
With an earth-shaking roar, the apollyon shook its arms, flinging Brock, Ray, and the other wolf high into the air. They crashed down against the ground—hard. The thuds stole the breath from me for a moment before I remembered I didn’t have time to stop and worry. The third wolf, whose name I didn’t know, whimpered before attempting to drag himself to standing.
Holy shit.
What the apollyon lacked in intelligence, he made up for in brute strength. Resisting the urge to check on Brock, I lunged forward, awkward as I jumped over one of the submissive wolves gnawing at his ankles. I managed to slice a gash in his forearm with my sword.
Black goop like crude oil oozed from the wound as a screech I could only describe as a dying cat shoved inside of a dying bear ripped from its throat. My skin crawled as it pinned its fiery gaze on me. I shook away the sensation and commanded myself to focus. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I gripped my katana.
It lumbered forward, obliterating bushes, kicking at the wolves who got in the way. Wolves flew in every direction, landing with sickening thuds and horrible whimpers.
The apollyon faced off with me. I worked to pretend I wasn’t frightened, because bounty hunters weren’t supposed to get scared. But damn … this thing was monstrous.
While its fury was pinned on me, Reo and Haru zipped around behind it and sliced into the back of its legs, but it didn’t seem bothered. From the angle of the lashes, it looked like my warrior protectors had severed its Achilles tendons, as well as the tendons behind its knees. This should’ve sent it tumbling into a devastated heap, unable to attack ever again. Any normal creature would’ve been down for the count.
Instead, the apollyon continued plodding in my direction, its gaze transfixed on my sword. Why the fuck hadn’t it blown up yet? I’d sliced it good in the forearm. Maybe I didn’t get deep enough.
I ran straight at the beast, launched myself into the air, and swiped at the monster in a small arc, intending to stab its gut at the end of the motion.
It caught my sword midair.
Triple fuck.
With a yank, it dragged my katana from my hands as I fell to the ground, and then a snap rang throughout the trees.
We all froze. All but the beast.
No!!!
The fucking idiot hulk had broken my katana in half like it was a candy cane.
“Was that…?” Reo couldn’t even voice his question.
“Yeah,” I said, working to keep the panic from my voice.
I was fucked, and not in the good way.
“You stabbed the demon giant through the heart when it exploded before,” Molly’s voice came from behind me, making me jump. “I think you have to do that again.”
Stab it with my broken weapon? Which meant getting even closer to the nasty-smelling fucker? No big deal.
A hideous cry sprang from the apollyon again when it finally took notice of Haru and Reo and batted them away with a hand twice the size of a catcher’s mitt, sending them flying above its head—which was fifteen feet in the air.
Dammit!
My protectors landed with a loud crunch, their bodies tearing through foliage. I strained my ears for any indication of life from them, even a miserable whimper, but nothing. I had to believe they were okay and that the bushes or trees had broken their fall.
I shoved aside concern for my friends—simply because I had to. We’d have greater problems if I didn’t manage to take this thing down. It was up to me. My kitsune power was connected to the gate, which I suspected meant I was somehow connected to the creatures seeping from it. Hadn’t the warriors said something about my powers activating around demons? Well come on, baby. Activate!
I lunged for what was left of my katana before the apollyon could turn around. A mere six inches of blade prot
ruded from the hilt. Purple magic still flowed along the short blade—go kitsune powers—but it was little compared to the intensity of my magic that had sparked through the weapon before.
It would have to do.
But would it do? Dammit, I had no choice.
Cass whizzed next to me on his board and Brock limped out of the forest to take his place at my side.
‘You okay?’ I asked the alpha.
‘I’ve had worse. But that thing is made of cement and hits like a Mack truck. Be careful.’
Noted.
“I have Gran’s pepper spell,” Cass called out to me, whizzing circles around the beast—to confuse or entertain it, I couldn’t tell which.
Perfect. The pepper spell was super simple yet annoying as hell. Nothing like having an explosion of pepper sweep into your mouth and nostrils to fuck up your day.
“Do it,” I shouted, charging forward with my pathetic stubby knife.
My demon imp partner flew straight at the beast’s face and smashed the glass vial on its forehead.
‘Homerun!’ Cass cheered.
I chuckled while the pepper bomb exploded in the apollyon’s face.
It coughed, wheezed, and gagged, swatting at its head. Every variety of gnarly sound emitted from its throat as I advanced on him.
Stab a monster from the underworld in the heart with a six-inch, broken and dull blade … all while careful not to breathe in any remnants of the pepper spell until it fully dissipated … got it.
‘Careful,’ Brock warned—yet again.
God, I couldn’t wait to push out this baby so he’d stop treating me like glass.
I weaved in and out of the mess of arms that hung from its body, all of which were busy attempting to brush pepper spell off its face. It apparently wasn’t intelligent enough to realize the spell was a diversion to draw attention away from the more serious threat. Thank God.
I inched forward until I was close enough to strike.