Pulling away from Tess, Alec stared into her eyes. The soft yellow color was beginning to fade even as he watched, and his sense of the world around him was fading as well. The sensation of the rabbit, bear, and deer disappeared altogether, but the nightmare something he’d sensed was still vividly clear. Whatever the creature was, Alec knew with a certainty that it was still heading in their direction and closing the distance fast.
“What’s wrong?” asked Tess. “What is it?”
“Something’s coming,” Alec said unsure how to explain what he sensed. He looked in the direction of the something, seeing nothing in the dark sky, and pointed in the direction he knew the creature was coming from.
Standing and looking where he pointed, Tess said, “What? I don’t see anything?”
Alec strained to see in the night. It had grown too dark. He thought of the night-vision goggles in his pack inside the cabin but had a feeling he didn’t have time to go get them. Before he could decide what to do, a strange noise in the sky broke the silence of the night.
Whop, whop, whop.
“Do you hear that?” Alec asked.
Tess nodded, staring into the blackness of the night in the direction of the sound. Alec saw her eyes flash yellow.
“I see it,” said Tess. “It’s a helicopter. Its lights are out, but I can tell it’s heading straight for our cabin.” Turning her gaze overhead, she said, “I see something else circling high above us. I think it’s a drone of some kind. I can barely see it.”
“Then we’re busted,” Alec said regretting they hadn’t moved to a new location as soon as Scott left.
“Do you think it’s the police?” asked Tess. “Or maybe the FBI?”
Alec shook his head. The connection he’d felt earlier with Tess was fading as had most of the yellow in her eyes. He wasn’t sure why the color in her eyes came and went but didn’t have time to figure it out now. He tried reaching out with his mind, but with the fading connection to Tess, he’d lost his ability to sense his surroundings. That is, he’d lost the sense of everything except for the nightmare creature. The sense of approaching evil was stronger than ever. He pointed to the east, in the direction of the something.
“Do you see anything there? Up in the sky? Maybe three or four miles away?”
Tess looked in the indicated direction, scanning low at first, then working her way higher. She stopped scanning and stared at one particular spot for several heartbeats. “I see a couple of what might be large bats, but they’re only a couple of hundred yards away. Is that what you’re talking about?”
Alec shook his head. “It’s too cold up here for bats. Doesn’t matter. What I’m sensing is about three miles away now.”
Tess looked again. Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, God,” she cried showing fear for the first time Alec could remember. “We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go now!” Even before the words were out of her mouth, Tess was bolting for the cabin door.
Alec ran inside and grabbed his pack and one of the assault rifles. “Could you tell what it was?” he asked following Tess back out the door.
Running toward the four-wheelers, Tess hopped on one and started the engine as she shoved a helmet on her head. Alec started to get on the second four-wheeler.
“No!” snapped Tess making the word sound like a command. “Get behind me. I can see in the dark, you can’t. You’d just slow us down or give away our position with your headlight.”
“I don’t—”
“Do it,” ordered Tess. She pointed at his assault rifle. “If that thing catches up with us, you can shoot while I’m driving.”
Not sure what that thing was but knowing he didn’t want it to catch up with them, Alec made no further attempts at arguing. He jumped onto the back of Tess’s four-wheeler. He barely had time to get an arm around her before the engine roared, lifting the front wheels off the ground as the vehicle took off down the dirt trail, into the nearly pitch-black night.
Alec remembered he hadn’t grabbed the helmet or goggles that had been hanging on the handlebars of the other four-wheeler. Tossing thoughts of the helmet aside, he held on for dear life as Tess drove full speed down the twisting dirt trail. To make matters worse, she was doing it in the dark with only a few stars to illuminate their way. Although he had no doubt she could see, the knowledge made the ride no less terrifying.
Whop, whop, whop.
A stream of red tracers reached out from the sky in their direction. Tess shifted to the left side of the trail as geysers of mud flew into the air a couple of feet to the right side of the four-wheeler. The tracer rounds were so close Alec thought he could’ve reached out and touched them. The tracers stopped as the helicopter passed overhead at tree-top level.
“You’ve got a gun,” yelled Tess over her shoulder sounding more angry than scared. “Try using it next time.”
Too embarrassed to say anything in his defense, Alec positioned the assault rifle in his free hand and made sure the safety was off. He heard the helicopter turning around for what was obviously going to be another strafing run.
“We’re sitting ducks on the trail,” yelled Tess. “We’ve got to get into those trees and use them for cover.”
Hitting the brake, Tess slowed enough to traverse the ditch on the side of the trail without flipping the four-wheeler. Alec’s spine took a bruising, but he was able to hang on. The bright red of the brake light momentarily illuminated their surroundings, allowing Alec to see what seemed like an animal trail weaving between the trees. Tess slipped the four-wheeler between two trees, ducking branches as she went. One branch glanced off her helmet and lashed across his face, leaving a line of white-hot fire. He instinctively raised a hand to his face just as Tess twisted the four-wheeler to avoid another tree. The maneuver caught him by surprise. At the same moment, something slammed into Alec’s head. He had a vision of short, leathery wings as he fell off the back of the four-wheeler and tumbled until he came to a halt against the trunk of a large tree.
Crack!
An explosion of pain in his left shoulder told Alec he’d just broken his collar bone. He saw the red brake lights of the four-wheeler come on again, then realized he’d managed to hold onto the assault rifle.
Whop, whop, whop.
They’re going to see her, Alec thought. Fear for Tess passed over him. “Jump off!” he yelled.
He raised his rifle one-handed in the direction of the helicopter, but a hissing sound and the flapping of wings caused him to turn. He had a split-second impression of a foot-high creature with purple skin, leathery wings, red-flamed eyes, and razor-sharp fangs flying straight at his face.
“Your blood is mine,” hissed the creature, clawed hands outstretched. “Die! Die now!”
Dodging to the side, Alec made a wild swing with his rifle, catching the nightmarish creature’s left wing and knocking the miniature demon to the ground. The word ‘imp’ popped into his mind, seeming to come from his ring more than from his own thoughts.
Hissing and snapping its razor-like teeth, the imp flapped its wings and launched itself into the air heading straight for Alec’s face again. Hate like he’d never felt before flooded his emotions along with a bone-chilling cold. Making a desperate attempt to bring his assault rifle to bear, Alec pulled the trigger and caught the imp in the chest with a burst of rounds. The demon was blown back spewing black goo in the air before hitting the ground. The creature’s legs twitched a few times and then grew still.
Twisting back in the direction of the helicopter, Alec tried to bring his weapon to bear but was a heartbeat too late. A stream of tracers came out of the sky, arcing toward the now stationary four-wheeler.
Boom!
The four-wheeler exploded, sending a blast of fire into the treetops.
“No!” Alec yelled struggling to his feet as a wave of fear and anger threatened to overcome him.
Warmth from his ring traveled throughout his entire body. He let it; no, he begged the warmth to come. The sensation of his surroundings once
again became vivid in his mind but clearer than it had been earlier. He knew exactly where the helicopter was. He knew exactly where it was going to be in three seconds. He fired his assault rifle at that futuristic point, holding the trigger down until the weapon fired no more. The helicopter flew past, wobbling as smoke and fire erupted from its engine compartment.
Rushing toward the burning wreckage of the four-wheeler, Alec tripped over a log and hit the ground hard. A white-flash of agony from his collar bone told him the ring’s healing ability hadn’t yet taken full effect. He kicked back at the log trying to untangle his feet. Instead of hitting hard wood, he felt something soft. Looking back, he saw a pair of legs in blue jeans.
“Tess!” Alec said crawling next to her.
Her head was lodged against the base of a large tree. From the flames of the burning four-wheeler a dozen yards away, he saw that her helmet was cracked in multiple places. He heard a moan.
She’s alive, he thought, relief flooding through him. She must’ve jumped off before the rounds hit.
Before he could try to help her, Alec heard a loud crash followed by an explosion.
The helicopter, he thought. Serves them right. I hope they’re all dead.
A cry of rage resembling a cross between a scream and a roar echoed in the night air. It was accompanied by a wave of evil that sent shivers running through Alec’s body. An unnatural chill filled the air.
Oh, God! It’s here.
Chapter 36 – Demon
____________________
Alec didn’t waste time panicking. Using the newfound ability of his ring, he reached out to sense the location of the creature. It was close; too close. Removing the empty magazine from the assault rifle, Alec took out the full one he’d stuffed in his coat pocket. He shoved the magazine into position and cocked the rifle to chamber a fresh round. Branches in the nearby trees blew wildly as a gust of air stirred loose debris all around. Then the something he’d been dreading appeared.
Alec’s worst nightmares hadn’t produced a creature as monstrous as the one standing before him now. The beast stood on four massive armored legs with bat-like wings stretched high over its head. The monster’s reptilian skin was orange. It was thirty feet long from its horned nose to the tip of its spiked tail. Its muscular shoulders were at the height of a tall man. The creature rose on its back legs and stretched its front claws into the air as it gave another battle roar.
Alec didn’t have to be told the monstrosity before him was a demon from the deepest pit of hell. His muscles tightened as fear froze him in place.
Coming back down to earth on all fours, the demon roared again and charged, flapping its wings as it came. The resulting windstorm whipped loose debris all around in a blast of frigid air.
The thought of Tess lying helpless behind him drove Alec’s fear from his mind, replacing it with anger and determination. Standing, he charged forward firing the assault rifle at the creature’s eyes, more than willing to trade his life for the girl he knew he loved.
The monster roared, spewing a stream of liquid fire out of its mouth.
Alec dodged to the side but not before the sleeve of his coat caught fire. He dove for the ground and rolled to smother the flames, then came up firing his assault rifle point-blank into the demon’s head.
The rounds glanced off without doing any discernable damage.
One of the demon’s massive feet with six-inch claws headed straight for Alec’s chest. He turned away in an attempt to avoid the attack but was a hair too slow. The tip of a single claw raked across his back. The blow was partially absorbed by his pack, but the claw still tore through his coat and ripped into his shoulder and back.
“Argh!” Alec screamed as the force of the blow threw him into the air, then slammed him into the trunk of a large pine.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bones was accompanied by a wave of pain in Alec’s right side. He tried to scream but the air had been knocked out of his lungs. Face to the ground, Alec rolled over to see the demon walking slowly toward him, wings still flapping. Fiery streams of saliva dripped onto the ground, setting the moist pine straw on fire. Fed by the artificial breeze of the monster’s wings, the demonic fire spread rapidly to the tops of nearby trees, setting them afire. The demon opened its mouth and revealed an opening filled with flames. Fangs of red fire foretold Alec’s death.
“Pathetic human,” said the demon in a voice more growl than words. “I will suck the life force from your body as I rip your flesh to shreds. I will take your soul with me when I return to hell and savor your screams for all eternity.”
“No!” came a shout from Alec’s right.
Despite his pain, Alec forced himself to twist in the direction of the shout. Tess stood twenty yards away, facing the demon. She was no longer wearing her cracked helmet. Her honey-blonde hair flew in the breeze created by the demon’s wings. Tess’s eyes blazed yellow. A circle of fire flickered at her feet, its red and yellow flames licking up her legs and arms but doing her no harm. Her otherworldly look sent a shiver of primordial fear down Alec’s spine.
As the demon turned to face Tess, a realization came over Alec that the connection he’d sensed earlier was back in full force, flaring with energy. He could feel Tess’s ring full of power and a corresponding energy from his own ring as warmth wrapped around his injuries attempting to heal his torn flesh and broken bones.
A stream of fire shot out from the demon’s mouth encompassing Tess in a wave of fire. The flames set more of the surrounding pine straw and brush on fire but appeared to do her no harm. Even her clothing failed to burn. Alec sensed her draw energy from her ring and form it into a ball of hot energy in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, the ball shot out and caught the demon in the chest. When the ball of energy hit, it erupted in a massive explosion that blew two nearby trees down. Alec felt the heat roll over him, singeing his hair and blistering his skin. He gritted his teeth to bite back a scream.
The demon rose on its hind legs and laughed at Tess. “Fool! I am a creature of fire. You can do nothing to harm me. I will eat both you and the pathetic boy you’re trying to protect.”
Painful though it was to move, Alec turned to look for a weapon. He spotted his assault rifle ten yards away. Its stock was broken and the barrel was bent. In desperation, he eased the pack off his back and reached inside to pull out the hunting knife his grandmother had placed inside. It wasn’t much, but it was all he had.
I swear I’ll go down fighting, he thought, determined to help Tess any way he could.
* * *
The power of the ring flowed inside Tess, filling her with white-hot energy. She willed the ground beneath the demon’s feet to burst into flames. The ground obeyed, sending fingers of red and yellow licking up to cover the orange-skinned demon in fire. The demon laughed, seeming to revel in the heat of the flames.
“I am fire incarnate,” growled the demon lowering itself to all fours. “My fire may not harm you, girl, any more than yours does me, but I have other weapons at my disposal.” The demon raised a massive front foot to display its razor-sharp claws.
Tess drew more energy from the ring and sent a ball of fire at the demon’s head. The ball exploded in red and yellow flames, doing no harm. As the flames receded, the nightmare creature charged forward with murderous intent evident in its fiery eyes.
In the heartbeat before her pending doom arrived, Tess glanced to her left and took a final look at Alec lying on the ground. For some reason, he was fumbling inside his pack. She wasn’t sure why, but at least it proved he was still alive. Through the connection her ring shared with his, she sensed the Ring Defender healing him.
It won’t do any good, she thought. The demon is a creature of fire. I can’t fight fire with fire. It will kill me first, then turn its attention to Alec. I can do nothing to stop it.
* * *
Alec saw the demon charging toward Tess. Instead of shrinking away in fear, she stood her ground and sent another one
of her fireballs at the monster’s head. The explosion did no more harm to the demon than had the earlier blast. With Alec’s heightened awareness of his surroundings, he sensed that the demon was fire based. He also sensed a core of condensed fire deep inside the demon with lines of fire reaching out to all parts of its body. He sensed that the lines of fire were creating the flesh and sinew allowing the nightmare creature to exist in the world of the physical.
A thought came to Alec almost as if his ring was telling him that the demon’s strength was also its weakness. He sent an image of the demon’s fiery core through the connection between his ring and Tess’s.
“The demon is fire!” Alec shouted. “You control fire!”
* * *
An image of a condensed ball of fire deep inside the charging demon popped into Tess’s mind.
“The demon is fire!” shouted Alec. “You control fire!”
The realization of what he was trying to tell her gave Tess a spark of hope. She reached inside the demon’s body with the power of her ring. At the same time, she pictured the image of the fire pentagram in Mrs. Walker’s notebook and grabbed onto the connection between her ring and Alec’s Ring Defender as she commanded the demon’s fiery core to come to her.
The demon screamed and stumbled before falling to the ground writhing in agony. Brush and trees alike burst into flames as the monster rolled on the ground.
Picturing the two candles Alec’s aunt had placed in the box by the river, Tess imagined the demon was the lit candle and she was the unlit. She began drawing the fire from the first candle toward the second. The demon roared in agony as it tried to resist her. Letting the heat of her ring fill her completely, Tess continued pulling the fire from the first candle to the second. In her mind, she pictured the flame of the first candle reach out to the second candle and light it ablaze, pulling the flames until the first candle was spent; burnt down to a nub.
Fire Defender Page 24