by Matt King
You have to hurry, August! The Pyrians are nearly on top of you!
“Pyrians?” he said on reflex. He looked around, trying to figure out what she was talking about, and then he saw them.
The creatures appeared on his right, cresting the hill near the eastern graveyard. Their skin reflected a liquid prism of colors in the sunlight, like gasoline floating on water. An oval of quivering white light stood behind them. They were human-looking in form, but covered in rough, thorny armor that looked like it grew straight out of their skin. A few of the bigger ones carried spears with a glowing green light at their tips.
One glimpse was all it took to get him moving for the door. He got to the entrance and pounded on the heavy wood with his fist.
“Who is it?” Carl asked from the other side.
“August!”
“Don’t know an August.”
“Damn it, Carl, I just talked to you! Let me in!”
“Oh, all right then. One second.”
After taking his time with the lock, Carl opened the door a crack to let August inside. “Lock it,” August said, “and put a bench in front of it. Actually, put as many benches as you can find.”
“If you say so.”
The Lawsons were waiting for him in the middle aisle. Ray put a hand to his chest as he got his first glimpse of the sword staff. “What in the world is that?”
“I’ll explain later.” August looked between them and saw the rest of the congregation on stage, opposite the side door. “Come on,” he said, leading Bear and Ray down the aisle. He stopped at the front row and jumped on top of a pew. “Okay everybody, listen up!”
The crowd’s worried chatter silenced to a murmur.
“I know you’re all scared, but the best thing you can do right now is to stay calm and, most importantly, stay out of the way. I’m a trained professional.”
“Who is it?” Burt yelled from inside the mob.
“Nobody you know,” August replied.
Confusion muted the crowd. “What are you saying?” a woman shouted.
“I’m saying don’t panic! Relax. I don’t want to make this sound worse than it is, but there are a lot of people on their way here and they seem…kinda like aliens.”
“Aliens? Like Martians?”
“Not exactly,” August said. “But like I said, I’ve got this under control. Settle back, take some deep breaths, and enjoy the show.”
August hopped down from the pew as the congregation howled at the news. He shed his corduroy jacket and tossed his staff to Bear while he put on his sheath.
“You don’t sound too concerned,” Bear said.
“I know it looks bad, but as long as we can funnel them through the front, we should be all right.” With his sheath finally in place, he took the swords from Bear. “Don’t worry. It’ll be like shooting fish in a—”
A sharp crack ripped through the chapel. The top half of the front door bowed, and finally gave way as a fracture of light appeared along the slats. Jagged hands grabbed wildly at the breech, tearing away chunks of wood. Carl tried to stem the tide by putting his shoulder into the door. A spear shot through the opening, skewering the man through the chest and jerking him into the air. He was already dead when he slid down the length of the shaft.
August tried not to show his surprise at their strength. People would be looking to him. If he panicked, they would too, and then they’d all be dead. Beside him, Bear’s eyes were fixed on the threat. “You ready for this?” August asked.
Bear answered with a resigned nod. He looked away from his father like he was ashamed for something he was about to do. “Daddy,” he said. “You need to step back from me.”
“Son?”
The crowd behind them screamed and scattered across the stage at the sight of Carl being tossed to the ground with a hole through his chest. August faced the door, gripping his staff. Then a shriek rose from one of the women. “Oh my god! What’s happening to him?!”
Scattered flashes of light ripped through the sanctuary. August raised an arm to shield his eyes. A quick burst of stinging cracks of thunder followed, as though a storm had gathered in the rafters of the church. They’re coming through the roof. How the hell did they get on the roof? When the light faded, he turned with his staff, ready to strike, and nearly fell back against the pew. A thousand thoughts ran through his head as he sized up the creature standing in front of him, but only one made it to his lips.
“Ray, that looks nothing like a bear.”
Bear Lawson was gone, transformed during the storm of lightning into an animal that towered over August, taller than Bear by a foot with a body covered in inky cobalt scales like dragon skin. A sparse coat of wiry brown hair ran along its shoulders and back. It carried no weapons, and judging by the claws at the ends of its four fingers, it didn’t need any. Three-inch talons protruded from the tips, each sharpened to a deadly point. The beast looked around the sanctuary with pupil-less orange eyes blazing across a protruding black muzzle, and when he snarled at the sight of the Pyrians breaking through the door, he showed more teeth than August could count.
“My god,” Ray said, craning his neck. “It really was you.”
Bear turned at the sound of his voice, his long pointed ears perking at the sound. He laid a clawed hand on Ray’s shoulder, gently nudging him to the side before walking down the aisle.
“Can that thing understand me?” August asked.
Ray shook his head. He tried several times to speak, but words seemed lost to him. Tears pooled in his eyes. “I have no idea.”
“Hey!” August shouted. He ran to get in front of the thing that had once been Bear. “Remember me?”
The beast looked down and bared his teeth. He pushed August back with a one-handed shove and an angry bark.
“Take it easy! I…am…on…your…team!”
If the words registered, it didn’t show. Bear reached for one of the pews, pulling it off the floor like it weighed nothing, and slammed it down across the aisle, punctuating the act with a threatening growl before turning for the door.
He’s pinning me in, August thought. Like a kid.
“Good plan!” he called after him. “You take the front.”
“August…” Ray took hold of his arm. His grip was light.
“This is bullshit. I don't turn into anything.”
“Have to lie down...”
“I mean, I’m kinda strong, but look at that thing, it's—”
“August.”
August looked over just in time to catch Ray before he fell to the floor. His lips were blue and his skin was cold to the touch.
“He’s got bad lungs!” one of the men from the congregation called out. He was older than August by twenty years, but a child compared to the rest of the octogenarians in the crowd. The man came down the aisle to grab Ray’s other arm. “He needs a doctor.”
“Nobody in that crowd can help?”
“Alice used to be a school nurse, but she can barely remember her own name these days.”
Another board snapped off the front door as the creatures continued to fight their way through.
Shit. August helped drag Ray to the stage, letting him down on the floor behind the pulpit. “Can you get him some water or something?”
“The fountain’s out in the Fellowship Hall, and I ain’t going out there.”
“What’s wrong with this stuff?” August asked, pointing to a bowl on a nearby pedestal.
“That? It’s Baptismal Water, but—”
“Good enough.”
August grabbed a coffee cup sitting on the pulpit’s shelf. He dunked it once in the bowl and poured out a light brown wash of water. This is going to taste gross. Sorry, Ray. He dunked it again and carried it back.
“Let him sip on this until we’re done.”
“August.” Ray put his fingers on August’s hand. His voice was a whisper. “You stay close to my Johnny.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to him.
”
“I wasn’t worried…about him.”
Ray coughed, clenching his teeth in pain. There was no force to his breaths.
August split his staff in two and slid the swords into their sheaths. “The two of you stay down and try not to attract attention. What’s your name, pal?”
“Ronnie.”
The screams coming from the stage nearly drowned out August’s voice. “Ronnie, you keep those people away from the side door. I don’t want these things knowing there’s another way in.”
The door at the front of the church finally gave way, letting in a slow stream of Pyrians through the opening. As soon as they saw Bear waiting for them in the center of the church, they let out a collective shriek, stuttered and piercing. Bear responded with a roar that filled the room. In a single leap he was in the middle of the mob, slashing through their hides like they were made of paper. August watched him pick up one of the Pyrians in his jaws, then pull the two halves of its body apart as he bit it in half. The other aliens peppered him with stabs from their spears. One managed to pierce Bear's hide. Bear shook it off and opened the creature's throat with a single swipe.
August ran off the stage to join him. A line of creatures escaped Bear's assault, moving beneath the windows on his flank. Their eyes turned to August as soon as he cut across the pew. He jumped to tackle the first one in line.
The thing gnashed at him with translucent teeth, writhing beneath August’s weight as black spit sprayed onto the church walls. When he saw its eyes, it reminded him so much of the thing Paralos had shown him that he paused for a second to make sure it wasn’t him. Over-sized and segmented, the eyes were unblinking and seemed to burn white hot. August grabbed its head and twisted until the neck snapped. The skin wasn't as oily as it appeared, but it was as sharp as glass and his hands came away littered with cuts.
A rough hand took him by the shoulder. He knocked it away, drawing his sword and coming around with a blind thrust that skewered another beast through its belly. With a heavy tug, he pulled the sword free and swung for its neck. It took two hits to cleave the head. Milky blue fluid sprayed from the wound as its body fell into the Pyrian standing behind it.
Bear roared at the line of creatures trying to get to August. He flung a pew out of his way to get to them, sending it crashing into the mob still streaming through the door. As soon as he got close, four of the Pyrians converged, each trying to claw and bite at his arms. Bear shook them free with a single motion and then threw one of them so hard that it left a crater in the wall. Another tried to grab the spear it dropped at Bear’s feet. Bear pinned it to the carpet with a clawed foot and pulled it apart by its arms.
Looks like he’s doing okay.
A second wave of Pyrians converged on them, dividing into two groups. Cut off from Bear’s support, August braced himself for the charge. A spear came out of the horde, slicing him across the cheek before he had time to move out of the way. It left behind a searing cut just below his eye. The lingering burn was like someone grinding glass into the wound. August shoved the creatures back, taking aim for the closest one and lopping off its arm, but it was only the first of many. In their haste to get to him, they left the aisle and started climbing over benches. August couldn’t keep up with the numbers. For every one he kicked one back, two more made it closer. One of the larger beasts took August by the throat, nearly crushing his windpipe before August could kick free. With another closing in from behind, he locked the ends of his swords together and swung the staff hard in a circle, slicing both creatures across their guts. He picked up the lighter of the two, threw him against the larger one, and then buried his blade through their stomachs. They slid off the end, falling on top of each other between the pews.
“They’re coming on stage!” Ronnie yelled from beside the pulpit, pointing toward a monster chugging toward the dais with a green-tipped spear raised above its shoulder.
There was no way August could get there in time. Let's hope this works. He lifted his staff and threw it like a javelin. The end of the blade flipped over mid-flight, smacking the monster harmlessly on the back of the head.
“Shit!”
Ronnie jumped down from the stage and tried to tackle the Pyrian before it got to Ray. August struggled to run through the pews. The monster fell to the ground as soon as it was hit, but Ronnie couldn't recover in time to stop the two others that piled on top of him. He screamed as their jaws tore through his jacket, taking small chunks of his back away with each bite. One of the beasts buried its teeth into his scalp.
The crowd of churchgoers on stage fell apart as they watched Ronnie’s head taken off his shoulders. A group of women ran toward the side door.
“Wait!” August yelled. He ran down the aisle waving his arms. “Don’t open that!”
The women paid no attention. They were through the door before they realized their mistake. As August feared, part of the group trying to get in through the front must have seen them and headed for the door. Two of the women who made it past the opening had their screams silenced immediately, a pair of spears through their Sunday best. The other two tried in vain to shut the door again. A clawed hand grabbed the side of the door before it could shut all the way and pulled it off its hinges.
August hurried to the pile of monsters standing over Ronnie’s remains and grabbed his staff from the floor. He sliced through two before they could turn around. The other he took in a headlock, running a blade across its throat.
“They’re coming in!” someone yelled.
More of the stone-skinned Pyrians poured in through the side door. Some went for the wailing group of churchgoers huddled in the corner. The rest came straight for August. He positioned himself in front of Ray with his staff ready.
“Bear!” he called out. “I could use some help here!”
The floor shook as Bear came running down the aisle. Leaping onto the dais with an angry scream, he grabbed one of the monsters closing in on August and threw it over his shoulder, keeping hold of its head. August ducked with his staff held out in front of him. The headless Pyrian hit the blade and split like a cracked egg.
With the threat to Ray cut off by Bear, August ran toward the group moving toward the congregation. He dove and caught two of them before they could attack. He skewered the first. The blade lodged deep in its back. When he tried to pull it out, the sword didn’t budge.
“C’mon, c’mon.”
He fought to free it as a creature grabbed a screaming woman and pulled her to the floor. August hit the release button on his staff, freeing a blade in time to cut off one of the alien's legs. As it fell back, he swung again to cleave the head. His blade found a weakness in the armor where the chin met the neck and cut straight through.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. One of the spear-carrying Pyrians plodded toward the pulpit.
“They’re going for Ray!” August shouted.
Bear turned with the limp torso of an alien in his hand. As soon as he saw the creature closing in on Ray, his eyes flared and he pounced, landing on its back as they fell to the floor. The thing fought to get away, claws ripping at the carpet. Bear flipped the monster over. He bared his teeth at its snapping jaws as he held it pinned against the floor with a single hand. August watched as the armor covering the Pyrian’s skin cracked beneath the pressure. It roared in pain. Bear answered with a roar of his own before he clamped his jaws around its head and crushed the skull.
The last of the Pyrians knelt near the back wall, ready to stab its spear into the stomach of a woman pinned beneath it. The husband stood above them, crying for it to stop and smacking the creature on the back with his fist.
“Move!” August said. He pushed past the old man and cut through the monster's weapon before it could bring it down. The green tip fell against the woman's arm, leaving behind a smoking burn. The alien screeched in anger. It launched off the floor, jaws wide, and August swung his blade through its mouth. The top of its head continued through the air,
flipping end over end as the rest of its body dropped across the woman's legs.
“Get it off me!” she screamed.
August kicked the corpse away. “It's okay. He's dead.”
The woman saw the blood dripping from the burn and wailed hard enough to rip her vocal chords.
“I’m bit!” she yelled as she got to her feet. “I’m gonna be like them!”
He turned away from her whimpering to find Bear, who stood in front of Ray with a low growl rumbling in his throat and a line of dead Pyrians in his wake. Sparks of lightning began to arc over his arms and legs.
“I’m gonna be a monster…,” the woman moaned.
“Relax,” August said. I want to see this.
The woman took his arm, pulling him away just as a white light engulfed Bear's body. “I can’t relax! You let that thing bite me and now I’m gonna be like one of them!”
“I don’t think that’s the way it works, lady.”
“Of course it is!”
The sound of Bear's transformation was already starting to die away. “Tell you what, if you start to turn into one of them, I’ll make it quick and clean for you, okay?”
Bear’s voice spoke from behind. “August?”
He knelt beside the prone body of his father. He was back to his normal self, with the same clothes he had on before the storm changed him into…whatever that was, only now they were covered in a film of gray dust. August had a hard time not imagining claws at the end of his hands, hands that held Ray up to his chest like a child.
“He okay?” August asked as he wrenched his blade from the Pyrians spine.
“No. He’s not.”
“But he’s still…”
“Yes,” Bear said. He pushed the hair in his eyes back behind his ears, showing smudges of the gray dust on his face. He looked lost. “I need to get him to the hospital.”
Ray’s head tilted sideways as Bear lifted him off the floor. He was as pale as his white dress shirt. His breaths came in short, jolting bursts.