by Alexie Aaron
Mia was just finishing her spell and had just opened the portal when she heard the heavy footfalls of an approaching hellhound. She hovered over the open maw, worried that the tentacles of the keepers would pull her down at any moment. She knew if she showed up one more time in the Pit of Despair, she’d be a goner. Hell was off limits to the assassin who snuck Ruax in through the pit.
Murphy rounded the last corner and saw Mia over the pit. The velocity with which he was moving made it impossible to stop. He smacked into her, hard.
Mia had the presence of mind to anticipate this and held on to him as she shot upwards.
The dog chasing Murphy jumped up to take a bite out of the farmer as the dog chasing Mia leaped to take her down to the ground. They collided. Mia shouted into the void, “Incoming!” as the beasts fell in. Mia knelt and smudged the line. She tried to get up, but the poison from the Nephilim’s claws had started to work on her system. She stumbled backwards. Tom caught her and steadied his friend.
“Mia, Murphy, that was awesome,” he said, holding on to his shaking friend. “Honey, are you alright?”
“I… I don’t think so,” Mia said and puked on the hood of his car.
Ted rolled into the farmhouse drive, surprised to see a strange car there. Lazar ran out and grabbed Varden from Ted’s lap. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked my mother and grandmother to come and help with the boys.”
“That’s smart thinking. I think we have to think about how we can restrain a gargoyle here if they manage to capture him alive.”
Cid pulled the van in front of the farmhouse. Audrey slid out with Luke. Lazar’s mother, Magda Popov, took the baby from her while his grandmother Babcia Sophia examined her scratches and bruises.
“I’m fine,” Audrey insisted. “You should see Mia. She had these claws stuck in her side.”
“What claws?” Babcia Sophia asked. “Not hellhound?”
“No. Nephilim. Murphy and Nicholai pulled them out.”
“Which Nephilim?” she pressed.
“I heard Altair call him Daskalov,” Audrey said.
“I’ve got the claws in the back,” Ted said, pulling up the back door of the truck. He hopped in and came back with a sealed box. “Mia gave one to me and one to Cid. Come to think of it, she did mention that they could be poisonous.”
“How did your wife look?” Babcia Sophia asked.
“Tired and unfocused. I thought she was just still mad at me. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes.”
He handed the old woman the box. She opened the lid and sniffed. “Black locust.”
“How bad is it?”
“She needs to have her stomach pumped,” Babcia Sophia recommended.
Ted’s phone rang. He saw it was Tom Braverman and feared the worst. “Hello?”
“Dude, your wife just puked all over my car...”
“She needs her stomach pumped…” Ted interrupted.
Tom continued, “and then all over the pavement, projectile vomit everywhere. Ted, there’s nothing left to pump out. When she finished, she had dry heaves for a while, and then told me she was hungry.”
Ted related the information to Babcia.
She took the phone. “This is Babcia Sophia. How is she now?”
“She left with Murphy, but aside from smelling like puke, she seemed fine.”
“She must have some tough constitution,” Babcia Sophia said and handed the phone back to Ted.
“Is my mom going to be alright?” Brian asked.
Babcia looked down at the child they forgot was there and said, “Yes, she will have a bad stomach for a week, but I’ll make something to ease her symptoms.”
“Can I watch?” Brian asked. “I’m going to be a wizard when I grow up.”
“Are you? Why not a dentist? They make better money. Wizards don’t make crap.”
“Come on, Brian, let’s get you in a bath,” Lazar said. “Then I want to hear about your adventures.”
This seemed to placate the overtired child.
Ted looked on and said, “I know you don’t want him here, Babcia Sophia, but he is needed desperately.”
“I can see that now. He can’t have children because of the bomb. Maybe he gets what he needs from watching your boys.”
Ted understood. “Do you know anything about how to cage a gargoyle?”
Babcia thought a moment. “They don’t like deep water because they sink. They can manipulate stone…”
“What about rubber?”
Babcia hunched her shoulders. “What do you have in mind?”
Ted smiled. “I’ve got a crazy idea,” he said and put his hand on her shoulders as he walked to the barn and threw open the large doors. Inside were four old tractor tires Cid had dug out of his lot when he excavated for this cellar last year.
Cid followed them inside and approved of the idea. He loved how Babcia Sophia pulled an apron off the wall by the workbench and tied it around her waist. “What are we waiting for? We could have a gargoyle at any minute.”
Chapter Thirty-four
The tall Other ran for cover when the birdmen landed. He needed to get to someplace safe to communicate and call in the Other army. This was an extreme case, and the contract covered all expenses. He found himself in a more affluent area of the graveyard. Fog swirled amongst the tall headstones. Many were adorned with statues. There were cupids for the lost young ones. There were also Greek statuary and lots of angels.
One particular angel-topped gravestone caught his eye. You didn’t normally see a female depicted as an angel. Someone must have spent a lot of money. The wings alone on this statue would have broken most banks. He applauded the sculptor. When he finished with this contract, he was going to come back and take this for himself. He ran his hand along the outstretched arm.
The stone felt funny. He looked closer, and that’s when he felt a cold blade at the back of his neck.
“I’d like to see that contract now,” Orion asked.
He turned. There, on a headstone, stood a diminutive man with wings.
The tall Other laughed. “You’re far outclassed, tiny.”
The statue behind him grabbed him and flung him to the ground. A very long sword pinned him down through his neck skin, just shy of his carotid artery.
“Don’t move,” the statue hissed.
Orion reached into his pocket and pulled out the contract. He read it, memorizing the four names on the bottom before he placed it on the Other’s chest and drove his sword through the Other’s chest. “CONTRACT CANCELED!”
The fog lifted. The night was quiet with the exception of the click of armor as Victor appeared, leading a chained gargoyle. “Why you want to keep him alive is beyond me, Little Bird.”
“I have an appointment with the Council of Women. He’s going to be my star witness.”
Nicholai dropped down. “Let’s get him out of here. The sun will be up soon.”
Mia nodded. “Take him to the farm. Ted will have figured out a way to hold him by now.”
Victor’s adopted nephews, Seth and Enos, walked up and took control of Quazar. They flew off with him in the direction of the hollow.
Mia had a feeling Victor didn’t want her to leave just yet.
“How many lost?” she asked.
“No birdman fell tonight.”
“Good,” she said.
“I want you to explain those horrid things on your back,” Victor demanded.
“I didn’t have much say in the matter,” Mia snapped.
Victor pulled her towards him and pressed their foreheads together. Mia could not keep Victor out of her mind. While Roumain was a caress, Victor felt like an explosion moving from cell to cell. He finished and pushed her away.
“What the hell,” Mia said and drew her sword.
He looked at her and laughed.
“Mia, stand down,” Nicholai ordered. “Your sword…”
Mia dropped the angel steel sword that could kill a birdman instantly. She reached over, and
Nicholai put his sword in her hand.
“What’s happening?” Orion asked.
“No one invades my mind anymore!” Mia shouted and took a battle stance.
“Come on, Little Bird, if you think you can touch me, come at me. Remember, I know all of Nicholai’s moves.”
Altair arrived with Sariel in tow. They perched on the top of a large mausoleum. Sariel noticed Mia’s sword on the ground. Murphy drifted up there and caught them up on perhaps why Mia lost her nut and challenged the most dangerous birdman in existence.
“And yet, she’s not looking to kill him,” Altair said, interested.
“She’s sick of you entities using her. She’s loyal to a fault, and how do you reward her? Michael rips her wings off. Victor pushes her to take on his brother’s role because she carries the guilt of Varden’s death on her shoulders. When she devolved in 1998, I was this close,” Murphy said, holding his fingers apart, “to just letting her become the demon she was engineered to be. Let her walk into Hell and not look back. Lucifer treats her better. Abigor loves her. You guys aren’t scoring any points with her lately. But I stopped her because I can’t help but see the little girl who just wanted a friend. She wanted to be loved. Look at her. Look at the girl who screamed in the graveyard and tell me, did we do right by her?”
Mia didn’t hear nor care what Murphy was saying; she was working Victor against himself. She advanced and fell back when he countered his attack. She opened the vault deep inside and let the teachings of He-who-walks-through-time fill her. He knew how to battle these birdmen. She didn’t have his strength, but she was smaller and quicker.
Victor pressed Mia backward with a nonstop assault of sword blows that she had to block. He pinned her against a stone and took his sword and cut a C into her cheek and spat, “Now you can wear Michael’s mark of failure too.”
If he hoped this was going to anger her, he was mistaken. Mia had disconnected herself from her body, this way she no longer felt any pain. Mia used this new state of consciousness to search for a weakness as she slid out from under his grasp through his legs. She could have taken his balls along the way but reminded herself she wasn’t trying to kill the birdman. She tapped him on the back.
Victor turned around and swung his sword.
Mia blocked it.
They traded blows that were meant to wear the other down. Victor started to enjoy himself. He had forgotten why he was so mad. Mia laughed and used her wings to power her upwards to meet his blows.
The dead had come out from their graves to watch the Titans fight. Dis Pater moved upwards through the ground and walked over, ready to stop this distraction. But he too became absorbed in the fight. He felt he was witnessing a conversation between the blonde girl who had saved him from crucifying the lawman, and the fabled birdman whom his own kind were afraid of. They had powered through their hatred, and now they were teaching the other lessons on who was stronger, who was the better warrior. Dis Pater waited until their swords clashed again. He then fused them together.
The di inferi swarmed the area to clear the way for their king.
Mia and Victor stood conjoined by their swords. Dis Pater released them, and Mia knelt and put her head down in respect. Victor stood with his head bowed.
“I don’t think we need to call a champion, for you both have lost and you both have won. Now leave my graveyard before I decide to punish you for trespass.”
Mia rose, handed Nicholai’s sword back, and called, “Come on, Handsome, time to go home.” Mia’s sword disappeared off the ground. She shot upwards and headed back to the hollow.
Altair picked up Murphy and followed her. Sariel watched their backs until they landed and then left to report to Michael.
Victor stared at Dis Pater a moment and raised his sword and tapped his own forehead in salute before he too flew away, followed by Nicholai.
Orion stood there a moment. “What just happened here?” he asked the god of the underworld.
“A long-needed conversation,” he said and disappeared. The di inferi dug into the ground and followed their king. The dead went back to their graves just as the morning sun broke over the horizon.
~
Mia landed in the backyard and let herself in through the back door. Dieter, who had just been dropped off by the Leightons, sat nursing a hot chocolate that Lazar made him.
Mia forgot what she must look like to her adopted son and asked, “How is Mark?”
“A possible concussion. He dislocated his shoulder.”
“Ouch, been there. What can I do? Do you want me to call and see if your Aunt Judy can fly down?”
“No, Mom, he’ll heal. What happened to you?”
Mia pushed her hair back. “I think I was poisoned, and Victor and I had a disagreement. I’m headed for the shower after I check in on your brothers.”
“Audrey is sleeping in the guestroom.”
“Orion should be behind me. Everybody is safe, a little battered but, all in all, a good night for the Martin family,” she said and walked out.
She passed Magda Popov in the hall who commented, “Walk of shame, dear?”
“Fuck off,” Mia said and walked up the stairs.
Dieter almost fell off his stool.
Magda walked in and tsk-tsked.
Lazar hid his smile from his mother.
Orion arrived to see the others staring intently at Ted’s invention, trying to see if there was any way Quazar could get out of his temporary prison. The gargoyle had decided it was too much trouble to keep up his human persona. He sat, hugging his knees, staring out at his viewers, his gaze holding a modicum of disgust.
The cage he found himself in was made of lightweight metals, but it was made impossible for the being to use his stone weight to escape by the rubber coating.
Babcia had helped to dip the chains and anything metal in the melted rubber. She also suggested that they let her cast a spell of soundproofing. Quazar’s biggest strength was his voice.
Cid suspended a revolving crystal over the cage to stop the gargoyle from hypnotizing his jailers.
Nicholai insisted Seth and Enos stay, regardless of the prison.
Altair kept to his human form in order to not rile the young birdmen.
Ted spotted Orion. “Have you seen my wife?”
“She left before any of us. I imagine she’s using up all the hot water.”
“How is she?”
“Difficult to put into words,” Orion said. “If you will excuse me, I’m going to go and hold my wife until I pass out.”
Mia looked at her battered body in the mirror. She would be sore for days. She placed a square of gauze over the wound on her cheek and taped it down. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Victor scarring her this way. Right now, she was too tired to care. She walked in the closet and found some clean clothes and dressed quickly. Her feet hurt. She chose a pair of sneakers instead of her normal boots. She combed her hair, noticing the missing locks. This must have happened when Victor was playing with her. He sliced them off when he got close to her head. “I should have cut his balls off,” she said and jammed a slouch beanie on her head.
She tripped down the stairs and eased herself out the front door. She heard the porch swing and turned to see Murphy waiting for her.
He joined her as she walked to the barn. They didn’t talk. He was unsure of her mood.
Mia was moving on automatic. Once she saw that Quazar was safely imprisoned, she would allow herself to get some sleep.
Seth and Enos nodded to Mia and Murphy as they entered the barn. Mia walked up to the cage and cleared her throat.
Babcia lifted the soundproofing spell.
“Yes?” Quazar asked.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked.
Puzzled by her hospitality, he didn’t say anything until she turned to walk away, and then he said, “My freedom.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. You’ve committed grievous crimes against the universe.”
&n
bsp; “And you haven’t?” Quazar challenged.
Ted, Cid, Altair, and Murphy held their breath.
Mia turned around. “Don’t even pretend to be able to stand in the shadow of my crimes. I’ve already been punished. Now’s your turn.” She yawned and smiled at her husband and friends and left the building.
“Go, I’ve got this,” Cid said to Ted.
Ted took off running. He saw Mia sitting on the top of the old picnic table over by the old woodpile. She was just staring off into space. Ted sat down next to her and put his arm around her. He didn’t talk. He just let her fall asleep as she leaned against him. After a few minutes, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the house, up the stairs and put her to bed. He took her shoes off her battered feet and covered her up.
He walked down the hall and checked on the children before he came back in and passed out beside his wife, exhausted.
Mia opened her eyes to the sound of gentle waves. She turned her head and saw Roumain staring intently at her. He leaned down, lifted her up, and walked into the water with her. He whispered, “Let go and open your mind.” He stood chest deep while she floated safely in front of him.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be transported to a place of healing. She recognized the voices. She knew the mages were with her now. She allowed them to administer to her sick and traumatized body. They touched her cheek. She put her hand over it, indicating she didn’t want them to mess with it. “I need to remember the lesson.”
“Allow us to knit it together so only you and the giver of it can see it. It will only enrage the others. Time for peace, time for forgiveness, time for justice,” a high, airy, soprano voice responded.
“Yes,” Mia said. She closed her eyes.
She felt herself be lifted from the water and opened her eyes. She wound her hands around Roumain’s neck.