by David Moody
Sam came up behind him. She’d grabbed the first thing she could lay her hands on, which just happened to be a folding chair. Maddie looked up in time to see her strike the broad back of the beast.
“Great, Saturday morning wrestling.” Maddie was pushing up off the ground, her chest throbbed, her back was battered and her legs felt rubbery. If Rollo/Kalandar even noticed the hit, he did not remark regarding it as he stared intently at Thistle. “What do you want!?” she shouted as she stood unsteadily, one hand braced against the wall she’s just used as a stop-brake.
“Have the gods not imparted wisdom into these useless shells?” He shook Thistle as he asked. “The rings, your lives…it appears self-evident, from my point of view. I would think the same from where you are, but who knows? I once watched a lowly vampire take on the highest order of demon. Hmm, poor example, as he ended up victorious. Never mind.”
Maddie thought the demon was relatively civil for what he was, but she didn’t think there was going to be any way to negotiate their way out of this. Sam reared back and delivered another hit with the chair, yelling as she did so. Kalandar turned slowly, so he was facing her. With his free hand, he grabbed the chair from her; Sam’s feet left the ground before she wisely let go of her impromptu weapon.
“Hmm, so much power and yet so ignorant.” The rings glowed brightly just as he flicked his fingers, smashing into Sam’s face and sending her sprawling, blood erupting from her nose.
“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Maddie shouted, finally letting go of her wall-crutch. “Feel good, hitting a little woman?”
“I would gladly take on anything my size if you would oblige, and yes, it was surprisingly satisfying to strike her.” The corners of his mouth pulled up. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some business to take care of.” Thistle choked and coughed as he applied more pressure.
Maddie was confused by the next sound she heard; she didn’t think the caving in of one’s chest would be quite so deafening. Kalandar roared as blood flowed down the side of his head. Sandra was standing to his side, a smoking gun pointed at him. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Maddie asked quietly, touching the gun in her pocket.
“How dare you hit my little girl,” Sandra said evenly.
Maddie couldn’t remember a time when she’d been happy to see Sandra; that had abruptly changed just now. The cynic in her wasn’t sure if it was motherly instinct that drove the woman to say what she had, or rather the justification for shooting Kalandar.
“Put the girl down.” Sandra’s muzzle was unwavering.
Kalandar rubbed furiously at where the bullet had entered. “That hurt!” he roared.
“Like I said, put the girl down or there’s more.” Without taking the gun off Kalandar, she went over to Sam. “Are you all right, honey?”
“Honey?” Maddie mumbled. She thought the woman might be laying it on a little thick, unless traveling through the portal had somehow realigned her misaligned wiring.
Blood gushed from Sam’s nose, but she stood, a burning defiance blazing in her eyes.
“Can anyone tell me what is going on and what the big ugly red man is doing?” Sandra was all business.
“Worlds, as in plural, are ending, and this shithead is here to facilitate,” Maddie replied. “That about right?”
“More or less, although I am always interested in furthering my own personal cause as opposed to that of others.”
“And the Bleed’s cause?” Sam sniffed.
“It causes great suffering and destruction; that is within my sphere of enjoyment.” He had yet to put Thistle down.
“The girl he holds, is she important?” Sandra asked.
“She is, Mom,” Sam told her. Sandra, without warning, shot him in the small of his back. He immediately fell to his knees with a grunt.
“Let her go or the next one is in whatever your kind calls balls.”
Thistle collapsed when Kalandar let her go. Maddie raced forward and dragged the limp girl away.
“God-tech?” she whispered with breath she did not possess.
“Not so much,” Maddie replied. Guns were effective where and when she came from, but they were a weapon created by man, not gods. She wondered if perhaps the same could be said about the rings. From her perspective, they were so far advanced as to be driven by magic, but by the beings that made them, the whole of the clockwork capabilities may be considered not much above a slingshot and a wooden tree blind.
“I will thank you to stop shooting me, Human. While it is painful, you cannot kill me, not with that rudimentary weapon.”
“And I should believe you, why?”
“I am a demon, not a liar.”
“An ethical demon? Is there such a thing?” Sandra wanted to know.
As much as Maddie wanted to ask Sandra the same question, she refrained. Even her sarcasm had a limit to when it was wise to present.
“I’m okay,” Thistle said to Maddie’s careful ministrations. “We need to kill it.”
“Any ideas?” Maddie asked.
“I’m right here.” Kalandar stood. There was an echoing clink as two chunks of metal fell to the floor. “The question now becomes, do I destroy everything or just you four and keep the rings for myself. So much power here. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.” Kalandar was looking at the rings, he stretched out a hand; a flow of visible energy flared from his fingertips and almost gently caressed the curve of the closest arc.
Maddie moved closer to the control panel, as the monster was clearly more interested in the machine than the people.
“You could help us,” Sam said. Maddie thought that might be the most insane thing anyone had ever said, given the scene before them. She quickly changed her mind to perhaps it was the most genius thing, as Sam was on the opposite side from where she stood and was just crazy enough to be a distraction.
“That is not my mission.”
“Doesn’t sound like keeping whatever this place is for your own use is on the agenda, either,” an astute Sandra said.
Just like Sandra to pick up the undertones of betrayal from another. Maddie thought. Like-minded, she mused.
“Have we met?” Kalandar turned his massive head to look at Sandra. “Your spirit seems familiar.” He hmphed in a very human manner. Without turning, he spoke to Maddie. “Whatever your design, I suggest you do not attempt it.”
Maddie was just about to manipulate the controls. “Why?”
“I have not completely made up my mind in regards to my path. And if you do something I have to respond to, I will be forced to accept a choice I am not quite ready to make.”
“Feel free to fill in the blanks,” Maddie said.
“A war rages between gods, realms…mythological creatures, if that is easier to understand, started long before time was measured. In fact, it could be argued that the creation of all was caused by the chaos from this war, an explosion of mayhem throughout the cosmos. There have been times in which what you would call ‘good’ or ‘righteousness’ was winning, and vast eons where ‘bad’ or ‘impiety’–‘evil’ reigned supreme, but always there was a balance, neither side able to wrest full control. That has recently changed.”
“The Bleed,” Thistle said.
“Yes, the Bleed is something new.”
“But my mother was fighting against it,” Thistle said.
“New, in terms of epochs, puny creature; human lives are nothing more than a mayfly’s in comparison. It’s an advantage for which your side has not found an answer, and is unlikely to.”
Maddie wanted to keep him talking; as long as he digressed, they might find a way to use this time against him. “Seems like that wouldn’t be a problem. For you, I mean.”
“You would think. But once the war is over and you and everyone like you is gone, what’s next? My entire existence has been to wage war against your kind. Well, almost the entirety.” He snorted. “There have been times where I have greatly enjoyed batting for the other team.
Variety is the scalding cauldron of life.”
“A soldier without a war,” Sandra added.
“I’m sorry, is the big bad demon having an existential crisis?” Maddie asked.
“Just because we are fighting, there is no reason to be rude,” Kalandar stated.
“Are we, though? Still fighting, I mean.” Thistle wanted to know. “It seems like you could have been rid of us already.”
“Thistle, what the hell are you doing?” Maddie asked.
“No, seriously, look at him. What chance do we truly have? The god-tech weapon barely did anything; what can we mere mortals do?”
“She planning on self-deprecating him to death?” Sam asked Maddie.
“There is no way to stop the Bleed.” Kalandar appeared to be thinking.
“Wouldn’t a demon say that? Why fight? Just give up.” Maddie was getting angry.
“I said there is no way to stop it,” Kalandar put heavy emphasis on the word ‘stop,’ “using temporary measures, this wall, for instance. Once the full force of the attack comes to bear, it will breach this in a matter of moments.”
“I’ll make it higher,” Thistle said defiantly.
“It makes no difference. Whether it takes an hour or a year, ten years…the lifespan of a galaxy. The Bleed cares not. It has proven over and over that there is no defense that will completely halt its progress. You can keep running, but again, all you will buy is a delay in your inevitable destruction.”
“There has to be a way to stop it.” Sam was adamant in her belief.
“Are you saying we need to go on the offensive? To take the fight to it?” Maddie asked.
“I have said nothing of the sort,” he answered.
“Great, a coy demon, and I’m not shooting it why?”
Maddie held her hand up to Sandra; she wasn’t sure what was going on here, but that the brute wasn’t snapping bodies in half was a relatively good sign. She was convinced it could still very much go down that path, but that it hadn’t, spoke volumes. She had to keep Sandra at bay before she did something that forced his hand.
“There are ways to fight it.” Kalandar looked around at each individual.
“Why would you help us? Your kind unleashed it!” Thistle shouted.
Maddie wanted to slap her palm against her forehead. She could not for the life of her figure out why everyone kept poking the demon, trying to antagonize it. Made as much sense as diving into a bed stuffed with porcupine quills.
“Let’s hear him out.” Maddie could tell Thistle was doing her best to marshal her strength in preparation for another attack.
“Why should we?” Thistle was vibrating with anger.
“Oh my fucking word. Fine. Because no one can seem to read between any lines. The longer it takes him to decide what he wants to do, the longer you have to recharge or whatever it is you do. Plus, the longer it takes, the more time I have to figure out a way we can either incapacitate him or send him away, or how about, maybe just maybe, once he works through whatever he’s working through, he decides to join our side. That’s why!”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Thistle said and Sam nodded. Sandra was not going to be so easily swayed.
“Yes, I’m sure the very large red brutish-looking demon is contemplating how best to help humanity,” Sandra snarked.
This time Maddie did smack her forehead. “This has got to be the thickest group of people ever.”
“She’s right,” Kalandar spoke. “I don’t necessarily want to help.”
“There, he said it. Can I shoot him now?” Sandra had to lean over so she could see Maddie.
“You shoot me again and I am going to shove that weapon into a position that most people aren’t comfortable with.”
“Did he just say what I think he said?” Sam asked.
Sandra gulped. She wasn’t necessarily one of most people, but imagining that foreign object delivered to her by that beast was enough to keep her from pulling the trigger.
“Just so we’re clear, she’ll be the one on the receiving end, correct?” Maddie asked.
Kalandar grunted; the sound was disconcerting.
Maddie leaned over to see Sandra. “I say you should go for it,” she told the woman. Sandra flipped her off.
“See, the dilemma I am facing is that since the dawn of creation, these two opposing forces have been doing all in their power to eradicate each other. Like I said, this conflict is the basis of the universe. It simply would not exist, were this not the case. To help you, I would be working against everything I have done; if it ceases, so do I. There will be no millennia-long celebrations for this great victory. I will be reabsorbed into the entirety, no longer having my individuality, free will, my own time to do with as I please. I find that most unsettling.”
“Yeah, you should be on this side of it,” Maddie said.
“However, this would be unlike anything I have ever done, and if it were to be discovered I was assisting the opposition…well, there are things far, far worse than death. Eternal torture or a dissolution of self, becoming forever a part of a group consciousness, with no chance of independent thought or action. These are not easy decisions. Neither way appears to offer much hope.”
“What if there is a third way?” Maddie spoke.
“I’m listening,” he told her.
“You could do close to nothing. You could tell us what might work to stop it, then just leave. It will not be discovered that you went against your side, you’ve given us no active help but you will have given us a fighting chance. And another benefit is, you don’t kill us, you can still feel free to shove that gun up Sandra’s ass. I don’t think anyone else here will complain,” Maddie replied.
“Interesting proposal. I have a counter to that. I kill all of you, I do what I can from here, and again, no one is the wiser.”
There was a collective gulp from the four women.
“We don’t like that one,” Thistle said.
“I second,” Sam raised her hand.
“We will fight. Not each other,” he clarified when Sandra raised the weapon. “I will make my determination after a skirmish with the bogalites.” He walked closer to the rings. A glow emanated from them, and they all watched the monitors as a fistful of the enormous insects were plucked up from the outside and neatly deposited inside the crater, where they immediately began to wreak havoc.
Maddie lurched as she watched the suffering of the people, but right now she was doing the best she could to stay in the fight.
“This will be my determination of whether you are worthy of my help. You live and fight valiantly, I will take that as a sign.”
“Worthy?” Sandra pahed. “I don’t need your damn validation.”
“Will you for once shut up!” Maddie railed.
“To be clear, you all must survive. If even one of you falls, I will consider it a failure for all of you.”
“He’s talking about you, Sandra,” Maddie said.
“What are you talking about?” she questioned.
“He just met you, and he already knows what you’re all about. You have to help all of us, not just your own deflated ass.”
“My ass isn’t deflated, it’s toned!” she screamed.
“Mom.” Sam was embarrassed.
“I work my ass off to look like this!” she yelled.
“Like, literally,” Maddie replied.
“Maddie!” Sam looked over angrily at the woman.
“Come on, someone gives you that and you don’t take it? That’s just a waste.”
Thistle went rigid as Kalandar moved toward her. He draped his hand over the entirety of her head. He made a small incantation and his hand lit up. The light flowed down and over Thistle like a luminescent waterfall.
“What are you doing?” Sam moved to help.
Thistle held up a hand. “He’s…he’s somehow restoring my power. Oh, my gods!” She flexed her hands when he released his grip. “I am so strong!”
“Strong enough?” Maddi
e used her chin to point at Kalandar.
“Talk about not exercising subtlety,” Kalandar said. “And no, she could never have enough, not to defeat me, anyway. Do you wish to go next?”
“Next for what?” Maddie asked.
“All of you here have the blood of celestial ones flowing through your veins. It may be latent, but nothing that cannot be awakened with proper manipulation.”
“What sort of manipulation?” Maddie was moving backward as Kalandar approached. As she ran out of room to run, he covered her head with his hand. She wrapped hers around his trying to remove it, but for all the success she was having, it might as well have been an integrated part of her now. She stopped fighting when the first jolts of current passed through her. She sagged, but Kalandar kept her upright with his tight grip.
“You’re killing her!” Sam screamed, racing over to help. Kalandar caught her in mid-stride, his hand over her head and the same strange glow emanating. When he was done with Maddie, she fell to the floor as her legs gave out. Thistle came and helped her to stand; they watched as Kalandar finished with Sam and helped to keep her propped up.
“Don’t even think about it, Clifford!” Sandra had the pistol pointed at his head.
“It is for your benefit,” he ensured her. “It will be easier to survive if you can defend yourself with something better than….” His words were cut off as she fired a round. It struck Kalandar high in the cheek.
Sam screamed in horror as Kalandar’s head twisted and a spray of blood splashed across her face.