She put the motorcycle back into gear and continued towards the park. Another block later, she heard the police sirens. She managed to pull over in time for a swarm of police cars to stream past, including a SWAT team van. She had little doubt they were also on the way to Robinson Park.
She decided to risk the police would be too focused on the demons in the park to worry about her. After the last police car had gone by, she put the bike into gear again, this time as high as the engine could take. She ripped past the line of police cars, who as she’d hoped, paid no attention to her. At the rate she was moving, they might not have even noticed her as more than a blur.
She reached the east entrance of the park well ahead of the police cars, but there were already more on the scene. Officers stood in a ragged line near the entrance, hands on their holsters as they watched the demons stream into the park. Emma saw Officers Donovan and Early on one end of the line.
With the help of the cape, she got close enough to Donovan to tap her on the shoulder. The chubby policewoman turned around and then frowned. Before she could turn back around, Emma whispered, “It’s me. You can’t see me, but I’m here.”
“I kind of figured you wouldn’t sit this one out.”
“Who are you talking to?” Early asked.
“A figment of your imagination,” Donovan said.
“She’s here, isn’t she? That punk—”
“That punk who saved our lives,” Donovan said. She clamped a hand on her partner’s shoulder. “What do you want us to do, kid?”
“Just keep a perimeter outside the park. Don’t let anyone else in there. Things are going to get messy in a few minutes.”
“Fine with me,” Donovan said. “A lot safer out here.”
“Thanks,” Emma whispered. She started to inch away from Donovan and Early, towards the entrance.
“Give ‘em hell, kid!” Donovan shouted.
Hell was certainly the right word, Emma knew that much. Before long, she sensed Marie was going to unleash a lot of it on Earth. Unless Emma could reach her first and try to get her to see past her devotion to Veronica.
She took a deep breath and then stepped through the park’s gates.
***
After a few yards, Emma heard the sounds of combat. Some of the police must have already blundered into the park. They would be easy prey for the demons, especially with so many demons in the park. She picked up her pace as she heard a woman cry out.
Then she saw it wouldn’t be necessary. She recognized Sylvia more by her outfit than anything. The older Asian woman, Emma didn’t know, but it was obvious from the way she and Sylvia stood back-to-back they were on the same side. A trio of demons already lay at their feet. Sylvia took out the feet of another while the Asian woman leaped over the other demon and then flipped it onto its back.
The two women stepped back. A burst of flames spewed from their hands to incinerate the demons. Only a pile of ashes remained on the grass. Sylvia turned and growled, “About time you got here.”
Emma flipped up the visor of her helmet so she could look Sylvia in the eye. “Did you see Marie? She’s with one of the demons, the head one, I think.”
“Yeah, we saw that big one come through here a couple minutes ago. We were on our way there when these suckers tried to jump us.” Sylvia gestured to the Asian woman. “This is Hisae Chiu. She was my mentor back in the day. No one knows more about demon killing than her.”
“It is an honor to meet you,” Hisae said and bowed a little. “You are much younger than I imagined for such a duty.”
“That’s Agnes’s potion at work,” Sylvia said. “It’s always a crap shoot with those.”
“Indeed. But I sense you are up to the challenge, are you not, young one?”
“I hope so.” She gestured ahead of them. “Marie will be at the pond in the middle of the park. They’ve been draining it for days now. There’s something they want in that area. Marie said something about a gateway.”
“Shit,” Sylvia said.
“What?”
Hisae said, “Your friend Marie means to open a gateway between our world and the realm of the demons. Our forebears closed that gateway millennia ago. Only those demons who had already gone through remained in our world. We have tried to root them out since, but it is a difficult task.”
Sylvia added, “If she really can get it open, then all Hell is going to break loose. I mean that literally. There’ll be classes of demons we haven’t seen yet, ones that are bigger and nastier.”
“Then we’d better get to Marie before she can open it,” Emma said. “Can you vanish us to the pond?”
“I could, but it’ll be swarming with demons. We just drop in there and we’re likely to get our throats slit before we can say hello.”
“That’s true,” Emma mumbled. “I suppose we’ll walk then.”
“Yeah, nothing like a stroll through the park,” Sylvia grumbled. She reached down to her hip for a revolver, an antique by the looks of it. “I wish I still had my old crossbow. This’ll have to do.”
“Can’t you two just conjure up some more fire to wipe them out?”
“Not enough to get them all. Maybe if the rest of the coven weren’t so damned scared—”
“Do not worry, young ones. We have all the weapons we need.”
Hisae turned and started to walk towards the pond. Sylvia rolled her eyes and then followed after. Emma flipped down the visor of her helmet and then followed suit.
***
Emma thought of what they usually said in movies, that it was quiet—too quiet. Despite that the Black Dragoon had killed off most of the criminal element in Robinson Park, the park had never been as quiet as it was now. Usually there was the sound of homeless people as they rooted through the trash or young couples as they made love in discreet places. Now there wasn’t even the sound of any birds; Emma could only hear her, Sylvia, and Hisae Chiu breathe.
Though Emma’s helmet allowed her to see in the dark better than anyone, Hisae was the one who called for them to stop. She motioned for them to duck behind some bushes. Sylvia tried to ask something, but Hisae shushed her. “They are here,” she said.
Emma wrapped the cape around herself and then eased away from the bushes to find Hisae was right. An army of demons had made camp in the park, between them and the pond. There had to be thousands of them of all the different classes Sylvia had mentioned.
Emma knelt down beside the witches. “There’s too many of them,” she whispered.
“The numbers do not matter to a true warrior.”
“There are thousands of them and three of us.”
“You fail to see the forest among the trees, young one. Most of this rabble does not matter. It is only the young woman who concerns us.”
“We can’t get to Marie through all that. Not even with my cape. There are too many.”
“Hisae’s right,” Sylvia said. “All we need to do is create a distraction. Hisae and I will draw them off and you go in to fetch Marie. If you can’t get her, then throw that sword and ram it through her damned heart.”
“I can’t—”
“I know you don’t want to kill anyone, sweetheart, but it’s better that than to unleash Hell on Earth. One life versus billions. Think of it that way.”
“I’ll try. How are you going to draw them off?”
“That’ll be pretty easy. You just stay back and wait for our signal.”
Emma nodded. She stayed behind the bushes as Sylvia and Hisae hurried away as fast as they could while still in a crouch. The witches split up, Sylvia to the right and Hisae to the left. Emma watched Sylvia dart behind a park bench. A chilly breeze came in through the joints of Emma’s armor. Within seconds the temperature in the park had dropped by at least twenty degrees.
With the sudden drop in temperature, fog rose up. It didn’t take long before even Emma’s visor couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of her. She sensed what the witches planned to do now. Now that the demons were
all but blind, it was time to strike.
It started with a column of flame that rose into the air. Emma heard demons screech and hiss. A second column of flame rose up from the other side of the park; Hisae’s work, no doubt. Through the fog, Emma saw a flash of light. Then came the sound of a pistol.
Emma took that as her cue. She wrapped the cape around herself and then trotted into the fog. She kept her other hand on the Sword of Justice in case she ran into any trouble. The biggest problem at the moment was not to run into the demons as they scattered in search of the witches. “Come and get it, you sons of bitches!” Sylvia shouted. Another shot from the pistol followed this.
A demon, much slighter and without the wings of the Class-4s bumped into Emma. It bared its teeth and then reared back to swat at where she stood. She ducked to avoid the swipe and then catapulted herself forward to knock the demon to the ground with her head. Before it could get her, she rolled off of it and then ran as fast as she could.
The demon screeched something to its fellows. More of them turned her way. If too many got close, she would have no choice but to drop the cape. Then it would be much harder to get to the pond and Marie.
She didn’t have to worry about that. There was a flash of light to her left. Hisae Chiu appeared in the midst of the demons. “Are you looking for me?” Hisae asked, as politely as a tourist who needed directions.
Then she set to work on them. More than the fog, Hisae’s speed made it impossible to see her. Emma saw the demons fall to the ground one at a time. It was over in less than a minute. Hisae turned to her and said, “Go, young one.”
“Sorry,” Emma whispered and then broke into a run again.
After a few minutes, she finally neared the pond. Marie stood at the edge of it, the Watchmaker next to her. Emma decided there was no more time for subtlety; she dropped the cape. “Marie! Don’t do this!”
Marie turned to her. She already had the hair pulled back from her face to expose her left eye, the demon eye. “I’m sorry, Emma. I have to. For Veronica.”
She turned back to the pond. The pond began to shake as if from an earthquake. What little water remained drained away as the floor of the pond shattered. From the cracked ground rose a slab of black stone, almost like the material of the Black Dragoon’s armor case.
“Marie, no!”
The Watchmaker turned to her. His eyes glowed yellow. He snapped his jaws like a hungry wolf and then growled, “It’s time to finish things.”
He charged at her.
Chapter 29
As Mrs. Chiostro had suspected, there wasn’t much for Veronica to do in Hisae’s room. Even by Victorian standards the place had little in the way of entertainment. All the little girl could do was look at Hisae’s various knickknacks. She picked up a bird carved out of jade. “What is this?”
“I don’t rightly know,” Mrs. Chiostro said. “I don’t think Ms. Chiu would like you handling her valuables.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s all right, dear.” At least to this point Veronica had been generally well-behaved. She was much like Mrs. Chiostro’s granddaughters, the last of whom had died over a century ago. Children from that era had been so much more polite. They’d known their place, not like the children of today with their skateboards and video games and tantrums if they didn’t get what they wanted. Of course most children today didn’t have to worry about a thrashing if they misbehaved. “Well now, let’s put it back before—”
Even as Mrs. Chiostro said this, the figure tumbled out of Veronica’s hand to shatter on the floor. Mrs. Chiostro was about to scold the girl, but Veronica dropped onto the floor as well. Her entire body shook. “It’s all right, dear,” Mrs. Chiostro said. “I’m not angry with you.”
But when the little girl rolled over, Mrs. Chiostro realized Veronica was not afraid of punishment for the figurine. Her face was red and bathed in sweat. Then the girl screamed.
Her body began to change. Mrs. Chiostro watched in horror as Veronica’s body became longer. Her chubby midsection caved in as the fat stretched like taffy along her taller frame. Her neat mass of curls unraveled into a stringy mess that went past her shoulders. She looked older now, seven or eight perhaps.
Through the pain, Veronica whispered, “I don’t feel good.”
Mrs. Chiostro put a hand to the girl’s forehead. The skin felt like a tea kettle about to whistle. “Oh my.” She forced herself to smile. “It’s going to be all right, dear. I’m going to take you to get some help.”
There was only one place Mrs. Chiostro could think of to take Veronica. She scooped the little girl up and then whispered, “Close your eyes, dear. We’re going on a trip.”
They vanished from the boarding school and reappeared in the basement of Mrs. Chiostro’s house. She set Veronica down on Sylvia’s styling chair to rest while she hurried over to the vault. She scanned the rows of drawers inside the vault, until she found what she needed: a gray vial marked “Restoration.”
Veronica had begun to thrash in the chair. Mrs. Chiostro put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Veronica, please, you need to take this medicine. It will help you feel better.”
“Marie?” she whispered.
“No, dear, I’m Mrs. Chiostro. I’m Emma’s friend. You remember?”
“Marie!”
“I’ll get Marie, dear. I just need you to swallow this first. Can you do that?”
The girl became lucid enough for a few moments to gulp down the potion. She made a disgusted face. “It tastes awful.”
“I know. Come on, I’ll put you to bed so you can rest.”
“What about Marie? She promised to take me home. I want to go home!”
“I’ll find Marie, dear. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”
She tucked Veronica into the bed. She did what she could to mop up the sweat on the girl’s face, though it was unlikely to stay dry for long. That was unless the restoration potion worked. Mrs. Chiostro had her doubts about that at the moment. What had happened to Veronica in Hisae’s room was not natural; there was magic at work, a magic greater than her own.
She tried not to betray her fears as she patted Veronica’s cheek. “I’ll be back with Marie soon. I promise.”
She went out into the hallway to vanish herself. She didn’t know where exactly Emma and Sylvia had gone, but she remembered Emma had wanted to check out Robinson Park. One of her feelings told her Marie would be there as well.
She emerged in the middle of the park, almost in time to get beheaded by a demon. Mrs. Chiostro ducked just in time. She used a static charge spell to repel the demon; it flew back a good ten yards. The demon had plenty of friends around; Mrs. Chiostro had walked right into the middle of a war zone.
“Agnes? What the hell are you doing here?” Sylvia shouted.
Her sister fired her pistol into the head of another demon that wanted to kill Mrs. Chiostro. Then Sylvia seized Mrs. Chiostro by the arm to yank her into the ladies room. Sylvia locked the door; Mrs. Chiostro doubted that would hold for long.
“I know I’m not as good at the offensive magic as you are, dear. There’s been a problem with Veronica. I fear she’s taken a turn for the worse.” Mrs. Chiostro described what had happened in Hisae’s room. “I gave the poor dear a restoration potion, but I don’t think it will work. She wants Marie to take her home. Is she here?”
“She’s by the pond. Emma went to get her. You might want to hurry before Emma has to kill the little bitch.”
“I don’t think Emma would do that, dear. You know she doesn’t have your penchant for violence of that sort. Not that you’re a bloodthirsty maniac—”
“I know what you mean. You should go home. I’ll get Emma and bring her back. It’s too dangerous for you here.”
A window in the restroom shattered. Clawed hands began to work at the wire mesh inside the window. “I suppose you’re right, dear. Best of luck to you. And to Hisae and Emma.”
Mrs. Chiostro embraced her sister an
d then kissed her on the cheek. She might never get another chance for that.
***
Emma tried to pull the Sword of Justice from its sheath, but she was too slow. Just as she’d gotten it out, the Watchmaker slapped her arm. The sword hit the ground a few feet away. Before Emma could call for it, the Watchmaker batted her in the opposite direction. She smashed through a tree to land on her back. The armor kept her safe, but if she survived this, she would have some nasty bruises in the morning.
She staggered to her feet and wrapped the cape around her body. The Watchmaker leaped from where he had been, all the way over to the fallen tree. He looked around with his yellow eyes. “There’s nowhere to run, my dear. Once Marie opens the gateway, this will be our world.”
Emma kept silent. She held in her breath as she attempted to circle behind the Watchmaker. The Watchmaker must have anticipated this. His tail twitched and then lashed out like a whip. The forked ends hit Emma in the left knee. She collapsed to the ground and lost her grip on the cape. The tail came back around to whip Emma in the face. She tumbled onto her back.
She looked up to find the Watchmaker over her. His demon face managed a very human sneer. “Such a disappointment. I expected more from the vaunted Scarlet Knight, especially after what your predecessor put me through. Perhaps the next one will be stronger.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Emma said. A moment later the Sword of Justice tore through the Watchmaker’s wings. She had tried to hit a more vital spot, but he had moved at the last second. Still, he howled in pain, which gave her the opportunity to kick him in the midsection and then hop to her feet.
She hit him in the jaw to knock him backwards. Another kick finally toppled him. She called the Sword of Justice back to her hand; the sword sliced through the Watchmaker’s tail on its way back. The blade glowed in her hand as she glared down at the Watchmaker. “Tell Marie to stop trying to open this gateway.”
“You can tell her yourself. I don’t think she’ll listen. Not unless you give her the girl.”
Emma had to concede the Watchmaker was right. Without Veronica, Marie would not stop. Yet if she surrendered the girl, Veronica would never go back home. The Watchmaker began to laugh, an awful stuttering hiss, like a cartoon serpent. “You fool. You’ll have to kill poor little Marie. But we both know you won’t do that. You might as well just leave this park and witness the end of your world with the rest of your feeble people.”
Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Call Page 51