by T S Paul
“Seems like you have everything in hand here,” Anabelle commented. She and Alicia had several bags of equipment hanging off their shoulders.
Billy peered at the two women carefully. “You I know. Her too.”
“You saw us with Captain Gentry yesterday,” Alicia replied.
Billy nodded. “He called all the boys together because of your warning. May have saved a bunch of fellow officers’ lives.”
“Did Gentry survive? We didn’t know he got our message,” Anabelle answered.
“No idea. I was chasing after a bunch of Sons and wound up here. My information was they took something that belongs to the department. I seen a few of them here at the club, but they disappeared,” Billy replied.
“Sons?” I asked. “What Sons?”
Billy looked at me. “Sons of the Devil. Motorcycle gang in the area.”
I looked at Cat and smiled. “Were they driving a big armored car at the time?”
Billy looked surprised. “How’d you know? Captain Gentry told me to find it and I did.”
“You did? Where is it?” I demanded.
“Over there,” Billy pointed to the harbor tug pier a short distance away.
As one, we all turned to look. Sure enough, the armored car sat on the edge of the dock, doors ajar. Camilla or Haboryrm had found a boat.
<<<>>>
That was how we found the boat, but navigating was an adventure. We at least could read the map. Anabelle was careful of the draw and obeyed the watercraft speed limit for the most part. With Xavier and his team on board it was tight, but we didn’t capsize.
“What’s your team’s plan for the fort?” Xavier asked me.
“I thought yours was more important and that you didn’t trust us?” I retorted.
Xavier looked me in the eyes. “We have some… call it institutional prejudice when it comes to Paranormals. You are the ones we protect humans from, after all.”
“I thought we were all on the same side. You do know I work for the government, right?” I asked.
“We do, but orders are orders. My team and I are out of touch right now, so no crazy orders,” Xavier explained, showing me the tablet.
Examining the chunk of electronics, I shook my head. Chuck could probably fix it but then we’d have to deal with them again. Almost like Magick, I saw the man in question raise his head and look at me. I gave him an almost imperceptible shake of the head. He nodded and went back to his conversation with Alicia.
“My team and I planned to close the Gate first, then deal with the Demon Lord,” Xavier explained.
I shook my head at him. Straight out he was wrong, and while his plan might work, there was a huge obstacle right off. “It’s not a Gate.”
Xavier looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course it’s a Gate. Victoria, tell her that’s a Gate.”
The human female looked at me with just a trace of doubt in her eyes and said, “It’s a Gate.”
“Nope. Trust me on this one. I was raised around Gates and Portals and that over there is a Portal. A really big one, too. I wonder where they got the power to build it?” I speculated.
“You said it was a Gate,” Xavier accused Victoria, who raised her hands in defense.
Victoria pointed between her and Hamilton. “We said we thought it was a Gate.”
“I fell through a Portal last summer and needed a Gate to get home. Trust me when I explain the difference. That is a Portal. If they secured the runes in the earth or to bedrock, we’re screwed,” I replied.
Anabelle shook her head and yelled into the wind, “It’s built on sand. The island is artificial.”
I pointed toward her, “Even better. All we have to do is damage the runes. Of course, we have to get past the Demons to do that first.”
“Do what first?” A tiny voice came from my pocket as Fergus made himself known again.
“Fight Demons. Want to help?” I asked him.
“I’m too short for that. Got any hay?” He climbed up my shirt and stood on my shoulder. “Where’d all the water come from?”
“It’s called the ocean. We have to cross it to kill the Demons,” I explained to him.
The tiny Unicorn walked across my shoulders, giving me the shivers. He looked over the boat, taking in all the new faces. “You smuggling humans or something now? Sure do have a lot of them on here. My hay?”
Holding out my hand, I summoned the hay I had for him back at the plane. Just the fact that it actually showed up told me we might still have a ride out of here.
“Take it. You need to learn the spell to do this,” I told him. “You should be able to conjure your own hay.”
Fergus dived in and started chewing. I carefully set him and the hay on the boat’s deck.
“I already know it,” Fergus replied around mouthfuls.
Holding up my hands in surprise I asked, “Why have me do it, then?”
The little Unicorn looked up at me and in typical Fergus fashion replied, “No idea what you’re saying right now.”
“Just finish your snack. We’ve got Demons to fight,” I told him.
“Bring ’em on! They can get a taste of horn,” Fergus shook his head back and forth.
“Only the little ones though, right?” I asked him.
“It’s all about the horn. Unicorns were born to fight Demons!” Fergus lunged forward trying to spear the deck.
“Are all Unicorns like him?” Alicia asked as she watched Fergus’s antics.
“Not really. For one, they don’t usually talk. Fergus is special that way,” I answered.
“Everybody arm up, we’ve got a welcoming committee,” Anabelle yelled.
The ferry terminal that stuck out into the harbor simply teemed with Demons. Cambions were tossing fireballs at the Imps and the Imps were ganging up on the Cambions by the dozens.
“If we wait a bit they’ll do our job for us,” Chuck yelled.
“We don’t have the luxury to wait,” I told him. Concentrating, I spoke the name of Poseidon and projected my will into the sea.
Hamilton and Victoria both witnessed this with wide eyes. “What did you do?” Victoria asked.
I looked at them and smiled. “Magick isn’t just spells and power. Some things require a primal element to them. The Gods give and the Gods take. My job as a Witch is figuring out which is which. Once you have a solution to that, you get results like that,” I motioned toward the quay.
One moment the Demons were there, the next moment they were gone, as a gigantic wave swept over the entire terminal.
“Can you do that to the entire island?” Xavier asked.
I shook my head. “That was a bit of borrowed power and a favor from a God. Poseidon isn’t the greatest fan of Hades, so he lent us his favor to destroy the God’s minions. It’s all give and take with the Greeks.”
“We’re taught to deal with Elementals for something like that,” Victorian explained to me.
“That could work as well. Hold on to the thought. An Elemental might work for dealing with masses of Imps,” I suggested to them.
Hamilton nodded. “Yes.”
Anabelle carefully pulled our boat up close to the dock. One of the harbor’s tugs was sitting in the prime loading and unloading spot. Both Hamilton and Robert jumped out to secure the boat to the dock as she shut it down.
Overhead the sky rippled and sparked. Colored lightning shook the ground as it struck the center of the fort over and over again. From here, the cloud looked ten times as big as it had looked from the city.
“Let’s do this,” I announced.
Chapter 21
“It is time!” Haboryrm roared to the lesser Demons. “Time for us to sweep across this world, claiming it for the throne of Hell. By bringing this to our Lord we will secure the future. Never again will we scrape and bow to those that lord above us. This world is ours!” Seventy years in the past, the exact place he stood held guns that could shoot Demons from the sky.
Dargun bowed low before his Lor
d and Master. “Majesty, you are pursued by the Witch.”
The Demon Lord turned to look at the oncoming boat. “Carmox! Do your job and take control of my Legion. The Portal must open.”
Carmox shrieked a challenge into the skies. Shedding his human form like so much dried skin, he spread his arms wide, embracing the cool sea air. “Come my children and arise! Your Lord calls and battle is joined!”
Flocks of Demon Bats descended upon the fort to circle it like a living wheel of teeth and claws.
“Dargun, bring forth Mammon and his tribe. It is time for their reward,” Haboryrm announced. Still in Camilla’s skin, the Demon circled the flagpole on top of the fort. Overhead, lightning flashed and rippled.
Mammon and the Sons of the Devil stood at the left shoulder of the fort. Gun carriages and ammunition bunkers lay in stark contrast to the leather clad men with their tattoos and jewelry.
“Our lord has called. When the great Portal opens, everything we were promised will come to pass! Fame and fortune will pale in the light of our reward!” Mammon played to the crowd, moonwalking across the turf and using every trick he knew to excite his men.
Dargun, also known as Autumn Fredericks, approached the men. “Are you ready? Our lord awaits you. He has decreed your reward. Now is the time for all of you to serve at his right hand for the greater glory of Hell.”
One by one the bikers climbed the stairs to the fort’s highest point. Cambion Demons seized them as they approached the flagpole.
Approaching last, Mammon was shocked. “What’s going on? Is this how you treat your loyal followers?”
“For more than a thousand years a plan has been in motion. This Portal above you is but a single part of something much greater. For this to happen, humanity must be consumed and repurposed toward the greater goal. You, my loyal servants, have the express honor of being first to serve.” Grabbing the closest man, Camilla slit his throat, making sure to spill the blood over the base of the flagpole.
Mammon looked on in horror. The club’s sole purpose was to bring about the Demon’s rule. He was promised things, things that dying wouldn’t accomplish. “We had a deal!” he screamed.
Camilla looked up from her latest victim and smiled. Blood dripping from her hands, she dropped the dead man. “Our deal was that you would be rewarded in the manner you deserved. You promised to serve me. This IS serving me.”
One by one, the bikers were put under the knife, their lifeforce charging the spell engraved upon and around the flagpole. It only seemed right that the symbol, fought over so much by generations of soldiers, should become the downfall of humanity. Esta had done her job well creating the hidden Portal.
<<<>>>
Xavier’s team attacked the main salient entrance to the fort in force. Victoria and Hamilton projected portable shields in front of each person as they shot their way inside. For each Demon killed two took their place. Mounds of Imps already lay in heaps outside the entrance.
“Flank,” Xavier spoke into the comm system. His .50 caliber pistol took a Demon’s head off at the neck while he chopped at a Demon Bat that tried to snatch him.
Robert pivoted like a well-oiled machine, firing his rifle at Demons. He took his position of gunner very seriously in situations such as this. Close order combat could get serious very quickly.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Victoria asked. She was constantly projecting shields in front of the group but took shots as needed.
“Get inside and kill as many as we can,” Xavier fired his pistol until it emptied.
“And then?” she asked.
“The usual, I guess. Where the hell are they all coming from?” Xavier holstered the pistol and grabbed his Bowie. Chop left! Chop right! His two-blade combat technique was good at taking limbs off his enemies.
Hamilton smiled at the term “the usual.” That meant he could truly cut loose. Keeping his power caged was hindering his ability to tell right from wrong. Right now, he was truly considering what killing everyone would feel like. Would it make the pain go away or just amplify what already existed?
<<<>>>
High above them on the very edge of the fort, Carmox hovered. Flapping his true wings, the Demon General marshalled his forces. If he destroyed the humans quickly, he might be allowed a taste of the spoils.
“The enemy is splitting up. Send the Bats and Imps after the stragglers. I want them dead before they can attack their doom,” Carmox ordered.
Carmox had served rivals to Haboryrm in Hell. The Lords were constantly battling each other for power and position. The conquest of another realm was a prize worth years of battle and a chance to break free of the endless cycle. He’d made very careful plans that related to each potential attack upon his new lord but hadn’t counted on Magick users or teams that split apart. Most of Hell still used Napoleonic tactics to gain ground.
“Majesty, your Legion needs additional support,” Carmox pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Until the Portal opens you must battle as is. There are no more reinforcements! Can’t you kill simple humans?” Haboryrm raged.
“They have power, Great one,” Carmox complained.
Slap!
Haboryrm slapped his General to the ground. “You serve me even in death. Remember that.”
Raising his hands, he chanted the same spell he’d cast in Charleston. “Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha.”
<<<>>>
Fighting Demons was one thing, but our goal was the Portal. Xavier and his team were the distraction. They would draw the enemy away and then we could stop Haboryrm. On paper it sounded good. Now we just had to make it work in real life.
“Whose idea was this anyway?” Anabelle asked as she fired into the sky.
“Yours, I think,” Alicia replied. Her hands were full of AK-47 as she attempted to reload the magazines. “You told Agatha that it would confuse the Demons.”
“I think it’s working then.” Smith took aim and fired at the masses of Demon bats.
Alicia laid the reloaded rifle next to her boss and grabbed at the pile of magazines. “Have you considered what happens when we run out of ammo?”
The Special Agent shifted position on the boat but continued to fire. “Vibes. Always with the negative vibes.”
Three Bats swept low, dive-bombing the speedboat. Their sharp claws raked the side of the boat. Both women ducked just in time.
“That was close,” Jones replied. Alicia wasn’t trying to be a downer, but realistically what they were doing was insane. If the boat sank, they were dead. And it looked like the Demons knew it!
“Close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades. Everything else is just practice!” Smith said as she shot down a Bat.
<<<>>>
“This is actually working,” I said as we snuck around the side of the fort. When Xavier had agreed to take the bulk of the attack I was pretty skeptical. His team was kind of rude. But then Agent Anabelle Smith jumped into the conversation and the plan really came together.
“Alicia and I can do it,” Smith said.
I gave the regular Agent a funny look. “You and Alicia can do what?”
“Draw fire. We’ll arm up and take the boat out again. They should come right to us,” Smith explained.
So this half-assed plan was quickly cooked up. Xavier’s team gave all their long-range guns to Smith and Jones and attacked straight on. My group would take the side entry and attempt to close the Portal.
<<<>>>
“Now that is a problem,” I remarked to the Cats.
Just in front of us, two skeletal Zombies pulled themselves from the ground. Tattered clothing hung off their skeletal frames. I could see moss growing in their eye sockets.
“Arrrgh!” Chuck let out a cry and attacked immediately. Pouncing on the closest one, he ripped off its head in a magnificent show of rage. The second skeleton didn’t have a chance to cry out. I mean, if a skeleton could even do that. He pounded the both of them unti
l all that remained were cracked and broken bones.
“Getting your mad out there, buddy?” I asked.
We were making our way around the left flank of the fort. Anabelle swore to us that there was a side entrance that allowed access to the tallest point. I assumed that was where the Portal would be. Looking up, I could see changes to the cloud. They were close to activating it. “We’ve got to move.”
A short path led around to the left but stopped suddenly at a wide grassy section. Letting my eyes follow the wall I shook my head. “If we survive this, remind me to kill Agent Smith.”
The section of wall she swore was open? Wasn’t open. The wall continued unbroken to the other edge.
“How mad do you think the Parks department would be if I blow the wall?” I asked Chuck. The bricks were old, and I’d been working on my explosive technique. The trick was to sink my shield into the cracks of the structure and then suddenly expand it.
Chuck growled and made a motion with his hand. “Ovvverrrr.”
“Good idea and less of a hassle,” I replied.
Mental Magick is something I barely use and this trip I had been using it at every turn. Concentrating, I picked the three of us up, and over the wall we went! Straight into a raging battle.
<<<>>>
“That’s not something you see every day,” Victoria commented. The five-person team managed to fight their way down the quay and into the portcullis of the fort. Set up for tourist convenience, the tunnel was lined with benches and places to park wheelchairs.
Xavier, out of ammunition, had already switched back to just his knives. He stabbed an Imp and was in the act of gouging another. “What?”
“The Witch was telling the truth, again. Zombies,” Victoria replied.
Stabbing the Imp in the head, Xavier dropped the body and looked forward. Half a dozen blood covered leather clad shambling dead men were charging down the tunnel.
Hamilton dropped his shield spell and readied a fireball. A wave of his hand and the lead dead biker and two others near him burst into flame.
“Good thinking, as if regular Zombies weren’t bad enough!” Victoria drew her swords and attacked.