by Susan Illene
“He’s not dead,” I said.
Yerik shook his head. “No, we don’t have a weapon that could finish these beasts—unless we use explosives.”
“I might.” Lucas drew his blade. The gleaming sword had been forged in Purgatory by one of the nerou and presented to him as a gift. “Someone hold the demon’s head up.”
Kerbasi reached down and grabbed it by one of its misshapen ears. The guardian stood back far enough that he wouldn’t get caught by the swinging blade. Lucas arced the sword and cut right through the creature’s spinal cord. The demon’s life forced extinguished in my mind.
“That did it,” I confirmed.
Yerik stared at the blade admiringly. “I don’t suppose you’d let me use that.”
“No,” Lucas answered. “But I will be happy to kill anything in our path.”
The daimoun considered it. “Very well, but these tunnels are too confusing for you to take the lead. When Melena alerts us to more demons approaching, we will switch places.”
We began jogging again. Minutes passed before I detected a couple more hulking demons coming our way. I called for us to stop in a hushed voice, then held up two fingers and made my miming impression once more. Lucas worked his way around Yerik. Technically, the tunnel was wide enough for us to move in pairs, but it would have made for rather close quarters.
I wanted to use my gun, but I understood why we were using blades. They were quieter and less likely to draw attention. Before we’d left, we’d agreed only to resort to firepower when the enemy outnumbered us or we reached open ground. There was also the risk that explosions could cause a collapse in the tunnels, which would really suck.
The first of the hulking demons came into view. Lucas dispatched him with one slice of his sword. It must have said something about my life that watching a head roll across the ground no longer bothered me. The next demon charged Lucas before he could get his sword back up. It swung a fist out, connecting with my husband’s jaw. Lucas hit the wall. I winced, knowing it had to be a powerful strike.
Yerik leaped forward, impaling the demon in the stomach. It’s ferocious face twisted as it made a gurgling sound of pain. Lucas shook off his discomfort and stepped forward. While the daimoun kept the creature in place, my husband sliced its head from its shoulders. The two men gave each other pats on the back. Of course they felt good about their kills while they forced the rest of us to stand around watching and doing nothing. It was hard to sit on the sidelines every time danger approached. I was an action-oriented person.
We moved forward again, coming across a demon or two here and there. Yerik and Lucas took care of all of them. I had to keep reminding myself it wouldn’t stay this easy for long. The rest of us would have our chance soon enough.
Finally, the end of the tunnel came into view up ahead. Harsh, red light filtered down from the opening and washed over us, making everyone’s skin appear flushed. We stopped about thirty feet from the opening.
“How bad is it out there?” Yerik asked.
I closed my eyes, allowing my mind to focus easier. The closest I’d ever been to this many supernatural entities at once was in the battle against Zoe to regain control of Fairbanks. In that case, though, there hadn’t been so much negative energy and magic. It was all I could do to distinguish one demon from another until they got close enough to us.
“Three of the hulky guys are near the entrance that we’ll need to take out first,” I began, then took a deep breath. “At least a dozen of some other breed are flying out there, and a bunch more are on the ground farther out.”
Yerik’s lips thinned. “I suspected it would be something like that. It is completely open out there with nowhere to take cover.”
“Then we use range weapons first,” I suggested, letting my rifle drop to hang from its sling and pulling the RPG over my shoulder. “I’ll concentrate on blowing the flying demons from the sky. The rest of you shoot at the ones on the ground. When any get too close, Lucas can use his sword to finish them off. If a cluster of them approaches, whoever spots them first should toss a grenade at them.”
“That’s as good a plan as any,” Yerik said, adjusting his rifle from where it hung. “I would add that we must make every effort to keep moving, or we’ll get bogged down. There is a half-mile stretch before we reach the location where the new arrivals are kept. It is a large, rectangular structure made of stone. Glamour conceals it from a distance, but once we’re closer, it should become visible.”
Lucas ran his gaze across everyone’s faces before lingering on me. “I would recommend we take a moment to prepare ourselves. There will be no chance for breaks after this.”
He was right. I grabbed my canteen from where it hung off my belt and took several gulps of water. I’d already drained part of it on our way up. Though the heat wasn’t quite as intense near ground level, it had been unbearable in the lower tunnels. Everyone else followed my lead. We might be immortal, but if we were going to pull off this battle, we needed every bit of our strength. Allowing ourselves to get dehydrated wouldn’t do us any favors.
Yerik waited until everyone had finished checking their gear. “Ready?”
Kerbasi leaned around Micah and whispered to me, “If we survive this, you owe me a cake.”
“If we survive,” I grinned at him, “I’ll even get it from a store instead of baking it.” Everyone knew my cooking skills left something to be desired and that it was best I stay far from an oven.
“You are most generous.” He gave me an approving nod and fell back to his position.
I checked my watch and saw it was just after nine. Our pace wasn’t too bad so far, but Yerik was right that we needed to keep moving fast. It wasn’t going to be easy, considering what waited for us outside.
“Ready,” I said, lying through my teeth.
Chapter Thirty-six
Melena
Yerik and Lucas excited the tunnel first, each spraying gunfire at the nearest demons. I ran out next, entering a grassy plain tainted red by the crimson sky above. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the strange hue distorting everything around me.
Blinking against the light, I caught sight of some sort of frail creature covered in black leathery skin in the sky. It flapped its wings gracelessly and made a scratchy cawing sound. The demon’s body couldn’t have been much larger than mine.
As it swooped lower, I sensed its overwhelming hunger. This creature didn’t know rage or malice—only the need to eat. I aimed my RPG at its emaciated chest and fired. The demon exploded mid-air with flaming pieces of its bone and skin falling to the ground below.
“Keep moving!” Yerik called out.
The men had cleared the area closest to us. We dashed forward a couple of hundred feet, working our way through tall grass that reached my knees. A dozen more demons ran toward us. The nephilim opened fire on them, and Kerbasi tossed one of his grenades. His aim was impressively accurate. When it exploded, taking out several of the hulking creatures, a grin spread across his face. Rather than giving him rockets, I’d loaded him up with two dozen grenades. It appeared that had been the right call.
I scanned the sky and spotted a pair of the flying creatures coming toward us. I pulled a warhead from my pack and reloaded the RPG. They were just far enough apart that there was no way to hit them both with a single shot. I targeted the screeching one with its jaws gaping open and revealing sharp, jagged teeth. The rocket exploded on impact.
The other creature was closing in on me fast at only a couple hundred feet. I kneeled down and struggled to get another warhead from my pack, cursing when it caught on a strap. There was no time. As demonic red eyes homed in on me, I ducked and covered my head. My back trembled as I prepared to be torn by the long claws jutting from the creature’s feet. This was really going to hurt.
Lucas flashed next to me at the last moment and swung his sword, slicing clean through the demon’s body. Part of its lower half landed on me, oozing something sticky and dark. I grabbed
one of its legs and chucked the whole piece away in disgust. Lucas gave me a hand, pulling me back to my feet.
“Thanks. I see you got your flashing ability back.”
“It appears to work for short distances now,” he said, his gaze running up and down my body. “You are unharmed?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I surveyed the area around us. Chunks of dead demon bodies littered the ground, many of the creatures decapitated. The men had made quick work of our attackers, but I could sense more in the distance coming our way. “Are you alright?”
Lucas’ golden eyes were intense. “I’ll be fine as long as you are not hurt.”
“You say the most romantic things, Lucas.”
He grunted. “I’ll show you romantic later.”
The other men began running again, and we turned to follow them. After a couple of minutes, I caught sight of a monstrously large stone structure a few hundred meters across the field. It glimmered with the magic concealing it.
Yerik was right that it was designed so that most people couldn’t see it until they were close. Considering the distortion it created, I was willing to bet the guys couldn’t flash near it, either. We could probably make it there in less than five minutes if we ran straight there, but more demons were closing in on us.
Kerbasi stopped to aim his rifle at several of the hulking creatures lumbering through the tall grasses a short distance away. He sprayed them with a succession of bullets. They jerked as they were struck, but they continued to advance even after he’d emptied his clip. He grabbed a grenade and tossed that at them.
“Die, you unclean heathens!” Kerbasi yelled, appearing to enjoy himself a little too much. I made a mental note to never let him near modern weapons while back on Earth.
Several more demons appeared over the next rise.
“Hold your fire,” Lucas called out. He flashed next to the demons and slashed at their necks. Two went down fast, but the third raked its claws across Lucas’ face.
I gasped, sensing the sharp pain hit him. The hulking creature had made its cuts deep, and blood ran down my husband’s cheek. I raced forward, intending to kill the bastard myself, but Lucas recovered before I reached him. With a battle cry, he swung the sword hard. The demon’s head went flying, and its body tumbled to the ground.
“Lucas!” I cried, skidding to a stop before him.
I lifted a hand toward his face but stopped just short of touching the wounds. His cheekbone and jaw were exposed from the open slashes. There was a primitive look in his eyes I hadn’t seen before, and I could no longer sense his pain. Lucas’ gaze was so cold that it was hard not to look away. He’d succumbed to battle rage, transforming him from the man I loved into a ruthless killer.
“It will heal.” His voice came out rough.
I stood there stunned and not knowing what to do with Lucas in his current state. This wasn’t the best time or place to attempt bringing him out of it, either. Grunting with impatience, he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the rest of our group.
Yerik tossed a grenade at a couple of creatures coming from the other direction. We ducked down just before it exploded. Demon bits went flying, landing in chunks on the ground. My senses told me they weren’t dead, but they were out of commission for a while.
Lucas left me with the others and flashed to the creatures, finishing them off. I could sense nothing from him except cold, hard rage. We’d fought a few battles together before, but seeing Lucas now I understood how he’d developed his reputation as a ruthless warrior.
He returned, and we raced forward once again, making it a couple of hundred more feet before being bombarded with another set of demons. It seemed as if there was a never-ending tide of them. I noticed several winged creatures coming at us from the sky, too. Though I had three warheads left, I knew I’d never get them all fired in time.
“Micah, I need your help,” I called to him.
When he turned toward me, I pointed at the incoming flying demons. They furiously beat their leathery wings and screeched out a chorus of cawing sounds that irritated my sensitive ears. While Micah shifted from his rifle to his RPG, I shot down the first one.
“Hit the next,” I ordered him. “I’ve got to reload.”
Micah fired the warhead, striking the second creature and sending it plummeting to the ground. Two dozen hulking demons lumbered toward us nearby. The pressure of them on my senses was almost overwhelming, making my head feel like it was being squeezed too tight, but I forced myself to push through the discomfort. Lucas and the others were already working to take the hulking demons out.
I aimed at the last flying creature as it approached from a hundred feet away. The rocket struck its left wing. My target tumbled to the ground, but the strike didn’t kill it. Just over the tall grasses, I caught the demon struggling to get up.
“Dammit.” I ran forward, switching from the RPG to my rifle along the way.
The flying creatures were easier to kill than the hulking ones, so I didn’t need Lucas to help with his sword. I stopped a handful of paces away from where the wounded thing still struggled to get up and fired half a dozen shots into its elongated head. With a weak screech, it slumped to the ground—finally dead.
“Melena!” Micah called out. “Watch your back!”
I turned around, and my heart stopped. Almost a dozen hard-backed creatures that looked like a cross between a tarantula and a cockroach approached me, moving on six legs. They stood about two and a half feet tall, and the breadth of their bodies was about three feet by five feet. I had no doubt in my mind that if they reached me, they’d tear my body apart limb by limb with their oversized mandibles. I set my rifle to automatic and opened fire on them, barraging their front line.
A rise of twittering sounds rose up, and they paused. Beyond them, I caught sight of Lucas and the others fighting off a second mass of them, except they must have been facing at least fifty. Oh, shit. We were so fucked.
The overgrown insects started moving toward me again, and I pulled a grenade from the pouch hanging from my belt. After thumbing off the safety clip, I removed the pin and chucked it at them. Before the first one had exploded, I was already kneeling down and prepping another grenade. Bits of the roach-spiders splattered all around me. They had a horrible rotting stench that left me gagging.
Holding my breath, I stood and discovered I’d taken out several of the creatures. I picked a spot with the greatest number of them clustered together and tossed the second grenade, ducking as soon as it sailed through the air. A few seconds later the ground shook. More insect body parts rained down.
I swiped away a chunk that landed on my arm. There were only three of the buggers left, but they were closing in on me fast. They’d also gotten smarter and spread apart from each other. I zeroed in on the closest one, firing my weapon. It didn’t appear fazed in the least. The initial bullets ricocheted off its outer shell, but when I nailed it in the mouth, it jerked to a halt. I fired a couple more rounds at its gaping mandible. The creature weaved back and forth, then slumped to the ground dead.
The next closest demon insect reached within a dozen feet of me. It scuttled sideways so I couldn’t get a good shot at its mouth. Sensing the other one approaching from my right, I dashed forward. The side-scuttling creature started to turn toward me, but I kicked it with all my might, upending it onto its back. Six hairy little legs wiggled about as it tried to right itself. The belly on it appeared a lot softer than the hard shell on its back, so I fired into its stomach, riddling it with bullet holes until I had no rounds left. Greenish ooze poured from the fissures I’d created, and the creature’s legs stopped moving.
A twittering sound came from next to me. Before I could turn, something bit into my leg. I screamed as powerful jaws tore into the sinew of my right thigh. Using the buttstock of my rifle, I banged at its head. The creature dug in deeper, seeming unbothered by my blood and almost cut into my bone. I took one of my throwing knives and stabbed at its eyes. The demon bug jerked
away from me, its twittering reaching a high pitch. Tossing the knife to the ground, I reached for my .45 Sig Sauer. It wasn’t my favorite weapon to use at a distance, but it would do in a pinch for an enemy this close.
I shoved the barrel into the creature’s mouth and fired several rounds. It made a strange wheezing sound before dropping to the ground. I checked my thigh and found it had left deep teeth marks that bled profusely, but otherwise the damage wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined. It just felt like part of my thigh had been ripped off.
Hobbling around, I caught sight of the men finishing the last twenty or so of their opponents. Lucas hacked and slashed his way through the bugs with a vengeance, blood and gore covering him. There was something very cold and calculated about his movements. Before each demon he killed even had a chance to slump to the ground, he’d already moved onto the next. In the few seconds I watched, he killed five of them.
His sword didn’t appear to have nearly the trouble my bullets did penetrating their shells. I was beginning to wish I’d negotiated for some of that ore in Purgatory. Then I could have gotten one of the nerou with blacksmithing skills to forge a blade for me.
Yerik and Micah shot at the demon bugs closest to them. By the looks of the men, they’d been bitten a few times during the battle. I’d heard successive explosions earlier, but they must have run out of grenades. I caught sight of Kerbasi in the sky, his gray wings flapping heavily as he hacked the limbs off of a flying creature. At least he’d taken charge of killing those while I was busy.
Another ten demon bugs approached. Clutching my bleeding thigh, I limped in that direction. I still had a few grenades left at my disposal. Once I got close enough, I targeted a cluster of them far enough from Lucas that he wouldn’t get hit with the shrapnel. I sent the grenade flying and ducked. It exploded a couple of seconds later. A piece of bug guts landed in my hair, and I yanked it out. If I ever invaded Hell again, I’d wear a helmet and long sleeves. Then again, it was really hot in here, and that might have made me more miserable.