Major Demons

by Randall Morris

  “This is a really bad idea. You’re going to get Murmur hurt down there.”

  “I think everything will be fine. He’s a tough demon. Plus he knows that I want this sniper rifle really, really badly.”

  “And you think that affects his ability to kill 500 demons?”

  “Shouldn’t it?”

  “I’m holding you responsible if he gets hurt.”

  Aim put his right eye up to the scope on his rifle.

  “Yeah, yeah… Murmur said the same thing. Don’t worry so much. Also… go get in position. It’s kind of obvious where I am when you’re standing right next to me. Not great for a sniper.”

  Jess waved her staff and a large sign appeared next to Aim’s position. It pointed directly at Aim and said “I’m with stupid.” Aim’s read it and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

  “Not funny, Jess. Get that sign out of here.”

  Jess grinned and waved her staff again. The sign disappeared.

  “Please go get in position. Murmur’s life is actually in your hands. You need to be consistently transporting demons into the canyon to back him up.”

  “Fine. Just make sure the um… what are we calling them again?”

  “Cowboy demons.”

  “They don’t look like cowboys.”

  “It’s because they’re gunslingers and we’re robbing them and… just call them cowboy demons. That’s what they’re called in my plan.”

  “Make sure the cowboy demons keep their focus on you and your ‘snipers.’”

  Jess made air quotes when she said the word snipers. Aim frowned and Jess jogged off to get into position. Aim gave the signal to get ready and his snipers started firing. Aim smacked his forehead and then joined in. After a few shots, he realized that he was the only one hitting any of the cowboy demons. Murmur teleported in and started attacking. He heard five loud bangs and saw all of Aim’s snipers fall off the cliff.

  “Shit.”

  Murmur cleared a path backwards with wide swings of his scythe. His armor and Dragonscale had deflected the shots fired on him but he was beginning to worry. The cowboy demons realized what was going on and closed in around Murmur. He was surrounded with hundreds of guns trained on him. He had barely made a dent in their ranks.

  “Well, well, well… General Murmur. I thought you worked for the Dragon, but as soon as you realize he’s gone to Earth you try to steal from him. So… you didn’t think he would leave anyone competent in charge? And you try to distract us with… what was that? Six idiots with guns? I guess only one of them had any skill and he’s stopped firing now. I guess he doesn’t want to give away his position. In other words, you’re screwed and I’ll be taking your place when the Dragon finds out that Murmur, Jess, and Aim are all traitors.”

  Murmur held up his scythe.

  “I have enough in me to at least take you down before I die. Go ahead and give the command. You won’t become a major demon but maybe one of your demons will.”

  “I really don’t believe that. Either way, you’re about to die. You can’t talk your way out of this. Jealousy will be the downfall of the major demon of jealousy. That’s hilarious.”

  The commander raised his hand and dropped it. The demons started firing on Murmur but Murmur didn’t hear hundreds of clinks as bullets hit his armor and shield. Murmur looked around and saw Jess standing next to him, holding her arms in the air. A dark, semi-circle covered both of them and was deflecting the incoming bullets.

  “Hey, Murmur. So… my brother is a dumbass. All of his ‘snipers’ are dead. I would use air quotes for snipers, but my hands are kind of busy right now.”

  “How long can you hold that for?”

  “Long enough to implement Aim’s modified plan. In other words, Aim is a dumbass and it’s my turn to put a better plan in play.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Don’t stress the details; just be ready to kill in swarms.”

  A few seconds later and Jess was beginning to sweat. Murmur could tell that holding the dark shield up was taking its toll.

  “Come on… you can do it.”

  Murmur grinned.

  “I didn’t know you liked to give yourself pep talks.”

  “Not me.”

  A dozen demons from Jess’s army transported in outside the circle of cowboy demons and started attacking. They caught the cowboy demons by surprise and quickly killed off dozens. A few seconds later, another wave transported in and started attacking. By the time the third wave transported in, Jess was about to lose control of her spell.

  “How did you…?”

  “I had a backup plan for Aim’s plan. I trained two other demons to cast transportation spells in case I needed to get in here and help. They’re the ones who transported me in here. I can’t cast it on myself… unless you want to hand over your scythe.”

  Murmur laughed.

  “I think you’re doing fine without it. I’m ready to resume killing. Let me know when…”

  “3… 2… 1…”

  Jess dropped the shield spell and waved her staff. Dark, shadowy hands started to appear from the ground, pulling the cowboy demons under the sand. Murmur resumed killing several demons with each swing of his scythe. When the cowboy demons fell to under 100 in number, their commander surrendered.

  Aim walked down into the canyon, grinning at Murmur and Jess.

  “See? My plan worked great!”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? Your plan was idiotic. I’m going to refer to it from now on as the ‘Aim Clusterfuck Campaign.’ Murmur, I think my brother needs a performance review after this shit. This was embarrassing.”

  Murmur nodded.

  “Jess is right. This was fucking terrible. I’m tempted to give the sniper rifle to her. She’s the one who pulled this off tonight.”

  Aim’s jaw dropped.

  “But she doesn’t even need a sniper rifle.”

  “That’s enough. I don’t want to hear from you for the next few days.”

  “But…”

  “Days, Aim. Shut the fuck up.”

  Aim bowed his head and finally looked defeated. Murmur leaned over to Jess and whispered in her ear.

  “Go get Aim his damn gun. Kill the prisoners and have your demons take inventory… what weapons we gained and how many we lost.”

  Jess nodded and ran off.

  CHAPTER 10

  “So Shadow really told the angels to get lost?”

  “That’s what our scouts report, Lily. They’re returning to Heaven. Fine by me. I don’t think the angels were really all that helpful or committed to dealing with this problem anyways.”

  Lilith pouted.

  “I don’t like it. I wanted Shadow to hook up with Sarah.”

  “Maybe he did. We won’t know until we meet up with him. It shouldn’t be…”

  Leech was cut off as Azazel transported in front of them. Scapegoat appeared by his side and an army of nephilim appeared behind them.

  “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Azazel.”

  “We know who you are. You’re the asshole Shadow warned us about.”

  Leech stepped in front of Lilith and Gangrene moved forward to stand next to him. Azazel smiled. He snapped his fingers and Leech’s scythe appeared in his hands. His smile slowly arched down and he dropped the scythe before backing up several paces. Leech laughed and retrieved his weapon.

  “Shadow warned me you might try to pull something like that. My name is Leech and my scythe slowly sucks the powers and strength of anyone who takes it from me. I’m the only exception. I promise you it’s a powerful, unbreakable spell. If you want a fight, you’ll fight fair.”

  “Turn over Lilith and the child and I’ll let the rest of you go.”

  Leech’s eyes started glowing red.

  “There’s no fucking way in Heaven, Hell, or Earth that I’ll let you take either of them. We’ll fight you to the death.”

  Leech turned and saw that all of their armies had abandon
ed them. Their fear of the nephilim was too great. He realized that he would have to take on Azazel, Scapegoat, and their entire army with Lilith, Gangrene, and Raven. Leech didn’t need long to do the math. There was only one play to make.

  “Gangrene, get Lilith and my daughter out of here.”

  Lilith shook her head.

  “We’re not leaving you.”

  “I’m sorry, but you are.”

  Leech held his scythe out for Gangrene to take. Gangrene refused to take it.

  “Leech, you just got done explaining how it drains the life out of whoever touches it other than you. Even if it didn’t do that, I won’t take it. We’re not abandoning you.”

  “Gangrene, the spell only targets anyone who takes the scythe from me. I’m giving it to you. Please just do as I say. Get them out of here.”

  Gangrene reluctantly took the scythe. He started pushing Lilith in the opposite direction but she refused to move.

  “I’m sorry, Lilith.”

  Gangrene hit Lilith hard across the face with the butt of the scythe. He caught her before she fell. Gangrene handed baby Lucia over to Raven and hoisted Lilith over his shoulder.

  “Leech, are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I’m sure. Go.”

  Raven and Gangrene turned and ran. Azazel nodded as if he respected the way Leech had handled the situation. He grinned and started clapping slowly.

  “Well done, Leech. You had your scythe ready for me, because you knew I’d try to take it. You didn’t teleport out of here and lead me to Shadow. You were even able to get your friends to safety. That last part won’t matter though. I can find them again after I kill you and this time there will be nothing to stop me from killing them. We were going to give Lilith and your child a pass for being nephilim and give them the option of joining Abaddon’s forces. You’ve ruined that for them though.”

  “No worries, asshole. I don’t plan on letting your army leave this place. You see, there’s only one thing that I value more than ambition. Family. I won’t let you harm my daughter. I won’t let you harm Lilith. Shadow never needs my protection, but I’d step between you and him to kick your ass, too. Just like everyone else in fucking existence, you’ve underestimated me. I’m just a small little demon. The outcast offspring of Baal. Well fuck you and fuck your army. If I don’t kill you all, I’ll come back from the grave to finish you off. That’s a promise.”

  Leech grabbed his axe and dragged it in the sand. He ran circles around Azazel’s army. The nephilim all laughed at him. Azazel grinned but looked slightly curious.

  “So we’re wondering what the hell you’re doing. Care to explain? Has your impending death driven you mad?”

  “I’ll show you what I’m doing.”

  Leech held out his hand and a large green circle formed around the nephilim conforming to the circle he had drawn in the sand with his axe. Azazel applauded once again.

  “Oh cool. I had no idea you were a sorcerer, little guy. Thanks for the lights show.”

  “I’m not a sorcerer. This is the final evolution of a ring of power I received a long time ago. Your army is trapped in there and they won’t be leaving. There’s one way out, conversion into energy that I’ll absorb.”

  “You’re not that powerful.”

  “I’m the best friend of Shadow, the most powerful nephilim in existence. Command your army to step outside the circle if you’re so sure.”

  Azazel nodded and one of the nephilim attempted to step outside the green dome surrounding Azazel’s armies. He was converted into a green mist that flew through the air to Leech’s outstretched hand. Leech breathed in the power and his eyes started to glow green. Azazel’s jaw dropped.

  “What do you think now, blacksmith? Are you worried that maybe you underestimated me?”

  Leech held up his other hand and the green dome started to slowly shrink, causing the nephilim inside to panic. Several of them tried to teleport out but found that they couldn’t. One by one, they were all converted into a green mist and flew through the air to Leech’s outstretched hands. When Azazel looked back in Leech’s direction, he saw nothing but a glowing green light. His army was gone. Azazel tried to teleport away but Leech teleported behind him and put him in a headlock.

  “Shadow warned me that I couldn’t kill you. You’re simply too powerful. I don’t believe that he was right. Regardless, I can slow you down and keep you away from my family. You see, I can’t hold all the power I just took in from your army. That’s why I’m glowing green. I’m about to go nuclear. You can try to teleport away, but I’ll go with you and in a few more seconds…”

  Azazel clawed at Leech’s arm around his neck but Leech wouldn’t let go. He looked up to the heavens as he felt his final seconds slip away.

  “I love you, Lilith.”

  Leech exploded.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Where’s Muan?”

  “I sent him ahead to see what’s taking Leech and Lilith so long to get here. We should have met up with them earlier today.”

  “Do you think they’re alright?”

  “Leech and I did our best before this nephilim hunting quest to make sure that he was a lot more powerful than anyone would suspect. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  A crow dropped from the sky and arched slightly back up before landing on its feet. It turned into Muan and stood up.

  “I… don’t really have an easy way to say this.”

  Sarah looked concerned. Shadow looked angry.

  “Just tell me.”

  “There are signs of a struggle. A large circle in the sand. Blood. Weapons everywhere… and…”

  “Bodies? Are Leech and Lilith dead?”

  “I don’t really have the words. I’ll take you there.”

  “What direction?”

  Muan pointed and Shadow teleported away. Muan turned back into a crow and started flying towards the site. He kept his speed down so Sarah could follow. When they arrived, Shadow had fallen to his knees and had his back to them. He was staring at something obscured by sunlight. Sarah changed her angle and gasped. At the top of a sharpened stick that formed part of a cross was Leech’s head, his mouth stretched wide open and his eyes still glowing a faint green. At the bottom of the cross were Leech’s guns and axe. Sarah covered her open mouth with both hands and then ran to Shadow.

  “Muan.”

  Muan ran to Shadow’s side and kneeled.

  “Take my armies back to Hell and reinforce Murmur. He’s been worried about an attack from Nightmare and Astaroth. You can lead them if you want. I’m not a major demon anymore.”

  “General Shadow, you’re the most capable of leading us into… they don’t respect me like they…”

  Shadow erupted in a ball of mixed white and black flames.

  “Do what I fucking say. Get out of here. Take my armies with you. NOW!”

  Muan nodded, changed back into a crow and flew off. Sarah looked frightened by Shadow’s transformation but she walked up to him and hugged him.

  “It’s ok to cry if you need to.”

  Shadow laughed.

  “I don’t need to cry. I’m ANGRY! Do you know how disrespectful it is to impale a demon’s head on a CROSS?”

  Shadow erupted into flames again and Sarah jumped back. She decided to try a different approach.

  “Do you know who did this?”

  Shadow kneeled down in the sand and tasted the blood. He spit it out.

  “It’s nephilim blood. It was Azazel. He has to be badly wounded. I don’t need my armies anymore. I’m going to find Azazel and I’m going to choke the life out of him. If I could, I would resurrect him just so I could kill him twice. He will pay for what he did to my friend.”

  “You just made a spur of the moment decision based solely on your grief, Shadow. Don’t you want to take some time and think about whether you want to continue to be a major demon or not?”

  “I don’t need any more time. Do you know why? I don’t belong there. I don’t belong
in Heaven and I don’t belong in Hell. I’m an outcast from both places because I’m an abomination. So I’ll run around here on Earth and kill angels and demons. That’s what I want to do now. Fuck both sides. Neither of them is worth anything.”

  “You don’t think that. You cared about Leech and he was a demon. You care about Lilith and she’s a nephilim… and you care about me and I’m an angel. If you want to hunt Azazel and Abaddon, that’s fine. Just don’t let revenge be the motivation.”

  “What should my motivation be? Justice? Righteous indignation? Is that what the angels would prefer? They’re all just words. Abaddon is destroying this whole world. Angels and demons won’t admit it, but I’m the only one who can stop him. Michael could possibly stop him but he’s a weak coward. Azazel killed my friend. So what he deserves is death. I’m going to kill him. I don’t care what we call it, it’s going to happen.”

  “We should go find Lilith, Gangrene, and Raven. Maybe they’re hurt. Maybe they need our help. We should check.”

  “No. I’m going after Azazel.”

  “Fine. We’re going after Azazel.”

  “I could leave right now and never see you again.”

  Sarah put her arm on Shadow’s shoulder.

  “Teleport away then. I’ll go with you.”

  Shadow went to remove her hand but Sarah got behind him and jumped on his back, locking her arms around his neck.

  “I’m not leaving you. You said I could go with you.”

  “I don’t think you want to watch what I’m going to do to Azazel. It’ll disturb your delicate sensibilities.”

  “Oh shut the fuck up, Shadow.”

  Shadow’s face clearly showed his surprise before he smiled. Sarah climbed down from his back and moved in front of him.

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “You heard what I said.”

  “Yes, I did. I imagine Grandpa Gabriel and God did too. You’re ok with that?”

  “I’m going with you. You don’t just get to dismiss me because I’m an angel. I’ll watch whatever you do to Azazel. I think he needs to die. Not just for what he did to Leech, but for what he’s done to thousands of angels, demons, and humans. He promotes war. I sent him to you a long time ago so he would either help you or you would kill him. Either way, I was fine with the result.”