by John Hook
“Rox started to tell me about manitors and shades.”
“This shade was wielding energy. I have no idea if it was science or magic.”
“Magic?”
“You sound skeptical.”
“I guess I figure non-falsifiable hypotheses should be saved as the explanation of last resort.”
Kyo and Izzy both chuckled.
“We really do have to get you away from a border town. We don’t even have a good explanation for our bodies.”
It occurred to me that my resistance to magic was probably misplaced here, but I supposed I was trying to hang onto my old and familiar concepts of reality.
Izzy was pushing away some of the rubble. I went over to help him. With some grunting and leverage, he was able to expose the door to his anterior chamber and pulled it open. The interior, within the hillside, was mostly intact. He was able to pull out a couple of bows and some bundles of arrows wrapped in canvas-like tarps of woven grasses. We gathered everything up and arranged our loads for carrying.
“We’d better get back to the tower. It will be dark soon,” Izzy suggested. Kyo nodded.
I hesitated. I must have had an odd expression while lost for a moment in thought because Kyo looked concerned.
“What is it?”
“Something is bugging me. I think I just figured out what.”
“Only one thing is bugging you?”
I flashed a smile at Izzy. “These guys are after me, right? They even burned down your house trying to find me.”
“Sure.”
“Well, they don’t appear to be very dedicated. They knew I wasn’t here. They are not exactly combing the countryside for me.”
“The demons are a lazy and stupid lot.”
“But now a manitor, or at least his shade, is involved. Upper management I would think.”
“What’s your point?”
“It doesn’t feel right. It’s as if they are not all that worried about finding me again.”
“Maybe they know how bad you want to kick their asses and figure you’ll show up to do it.”
“That would make them lazy and clever.”
“Maybe we were wrong.”
“Is that possible?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Me either. Which makes me want to know what is really going on.”
Izzy nodded. “You have an idea?”
“No. So we might as well get back to the tower.”
“Then you’ll come up with a plan?”
“I already have a plan.”
“Which is…?”
“I kick their asses.”
“Glad to see you’re adaptive.”
Kyo shook her head and walked on ahead of us clowns.
12.
We had an uneventful trip to back to the tower. It just made the question I had raised earlier that much more haunting. Izzy kept trying to convince me that the demons didn’t have the numbers to mount a manhunt in the rough wilderness we tended to stick to and that they really didn’t know about the tower. Kyo kept quiet. I think she understood the problem better than Izzy.
Maybe the demons had cooled off some, but I doubted it. They had followed me and tried to kill me the first night. Rox had been given a special mission where I was concerned. When they found out I had returned, they had gathered together the whole town and mounted a door-to-door search to find me. Yes, I had killed a couple of them, but they had really acted as if it was important to find me. Now, however, they weren’t even trying. I didn’t buy they were giving up or cooler heads were prevailing. That left the possibility that they were waiting for something.
It was late when we got back to the tower. We were exhausted from all the hiking and physical exertion. It wasn’t the same as it was when we were alive. However, just as the way we thought of ourselves affected how we appeared, if we were doing something that we would expect to cause physical exertion, it would result in feeling tired. I was looking forward to some rest.
A scream pulled me out of my reverie. The metaphor for a sudden scream in the middle of the night is usually cold along the spine. This one felt like fire. It was Rox. And she was deeply in pain. I ran. Izzy and Kyo were right behind me. There were no further screams, but one had been enough.
I ran up into the tower. Sidney, Zeon and Paul were sitting around the large room looking like a nervous family sitting in an emergency room waiting area. I could hear Saripha’s voice, low, coming from the back room. Sidney moved to intercept me, but Zeon shook his head and pulled him back. It wouldn’t have mattered. I brushed past Sidney and burst into the back room.
Rox was stretched out on cushions. Her body was tense, fighting against pain. Her face was pale, her expression a bit numb. Saripha was concentrating, her face washed in sweat, her hands laying on Rox’s belly where her dress had been pulled up to expose her. Rox’s breaths were jagged but slowing down. Saripha’s eyes rose to meet mine, burning with blue ice. I returned and held her gaze. Saripha took a deep breath.
“You consummated last night?” It was a question, but it caught me off guard. Maybe it was the old-fashioned wording. Maybe it was just that it didn’t appear to be a relevant question at a moment like this. Little did I know.
“Yes, we had sex. So what?” I answered more sharply than I had intended. “What’s going on here?”
Saripha sighed. There was deep sorrow in the sigh.
“Quentin…” Rox’s voice was weak. Her eyes opened slightly, tears of pain welling. She reached one hand a few inches, trembling with the effort. I took her hand. Nothing about this was making sense. I could feel tears behind my own eyes. I could also feel a tightening of my chest muscles that wanted to erupt into violence. “I’m sorry…” she whispered.
I looked up at Saripha. “A demon is quickening within her.”
And just like that, the hot molten rage that lurked deep down within me was back.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s a spell. When you joined, the energies triggered the growth of a demon within her.”
“She’s pregnant?”
“Not in any way you would think of being pregnant. Gestation takes a week, not months. Do you know how demons are born?”
“I must have missed that show on discovery channel.”
“Have you ever seen a female demon?”
No, actually I hadn’t. I shook my head once.
“Their only purpose is giving birth. They are kept in caves, are as big as whales and give birth to many demons. She does not survive birth. The demons claw their way out and then live on her flesh until they are strong enough to leave the cave.”
“Stop it! What the hell does this have to do with Rox? Why would she have a demon inside her?”
“Quentin.” Rox’s voice was weak but pleading. I ignored it and stayed focused on Saripha, who was receiving, undeservedly, the brunt of my anger.
“They put a spell on her. When you left the first time, they tore her apart and put her back together. When they did, they put a spell on her. They apparently anticipated your connection. It was a backup plan if they failed to turn you into a proto.”
This just brought up all the guilt I already had about leaving Rox the first time and made my thoughts even messier.
“This is crazy! How do you know any of this?”
A hand touched my shoulder firmly. It startled me for a moment. It was Izzy. “She knows.”
Like the hothead I am I brushed Izzy’s arm aside, though deep down I probably knew it was a gesture of comfort and friendship.
“Quentin…” Rox said more frantically, but still too softly to pull me away from focusing on Saripha.
“How do you know?” I asked again, anger spiraling up.
“I can see things you cannot.” Saripha met my eyes and held my anger. I could tell that there was strength there, that this was an uneven match. It just made me angrier.
“Quentin, she is a witch—I know you don’t want to believe this, but she has p
owers.”
I turned to Izzy as if what he had said had no meaning or relevance in the present situation. I could hear the scorn in my voice. “Big fuckin’ deal. And now she’s stuck in Hell just like the rest of us.”
“Not like the rest of us.” Izzy said, but I had already turned back angrily to confront Saripha.
“Quentin, please…” Rox was crying, but I was too caught up in myself, my own pain.
“How do you know?” I thrust Saripha’s hands aside and put my own hands on Rox. I could feel nothing in there. “I don’t feel…”
Suddenly, Rox screamed, the same horrible, painful scream I had heard before, but it shattered the room. I pulled my hands back instinctively. I watched in horror as Rox’s flesh began to swim and change. Saripha laid down her hands. Blue-white energy danced across them and across Rox’s flesh. Her skin returned to normal.
Saripha looked at me. There was no anger but a fierceness in her expression and voice, like the fury of a force of nature rather than the passion of a human. “Quentin, I know you are in distress, but do not break my link again.” There was no “or else.” None was needed.
I was horrified as I realized I had caused yet more pain to Rox. I turned to her. Tears streamed down her face, but as I understood the magnitude of her pain, I knew how strong she actually was. I held her head and she nuzzled against me. My anger subsided, not because there was no reason to be angry but because there was no appropriate target for it here.
I turned back to Saripha, whose features had softened. “What can be done?”
“Not much. I can put the process into stasis—hold the quickening in check—maybe a day or two with the work I’m doing now. But the demon will form and will tear its way out of her. I cannot stop it. Only they can.”
“Only they can.” I repeated with gravity.
“It’s okay.” Rox couldn’t focus her eyes, so it was almost as if she were talking to herself. “I will be brave. You must get away while you can. I will just be reborn as a proto. Maybe Saripha can help me remember…”
I squeezed Rox’s hand and kissed her. I stood up. I felt a deep calm that comes with understanding and knowing what needs to be done. Saripha detected the change and looked at me.
“Can you put her in stasis long enough to return to Rockvale?”
“I can probably protect her for 48 hours.”
“Quentin, no…”
I looked at Rox. “Ask yourself—why did they do this?”
“They are punishing me, I failed them.”
“I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t think so. This is why they haven’t been trying to track me down. In fact, they succeeded. They knew a link had formed between us. They knew that I would realize that only they could stop what is happening to you. They guessed, correctly, that I would bring you back, to save your life. They knew that I would just walk back in and they would have me.”
Izzy was a bit agitated. “Quentin, this is crazy. They will turn you into a proto and probably let her die anyway. At least here, Saripha can cut the pain and help the proto.
“I don’t think they will. I think once they have me, they will eliminate the spell and send Rox about her business once again. The demons don’t do things out of passion. They don’t seek revenge. They are just demons. They want me because they think I’m a threat, simple as that.”
“Not as simple as that.” Saripha was thoughtful. “We still aren’t sure why they think you are a threat.”
“It would be nice to know that,” Izzy agreed.
“Doesn’t make a difference to me. First of all, I am a threat, because I refuse to accept that I just belong here. Because of that, I am never going to stop trying to kill them.”
“You are also inspiring rebellion in others.” Izzy added.
“Then there is that.”
“There is more involved.” Saripha ignored the shtick that Izzy and I fell into. “The demons have faced rebellious humans before. They know about us but mostly ignore us. There are two possibilities, which may really boil down to the same thing. One possibility is that they are getting directives from higher up.”
“Higher up? Satan? Does he exist?”
“It. It exists. But I don’t know any human who has ever gotten its attention. More likely one of the domain lords at best. But that doesn’t answer any questions because we are left with why you would have come to their attention.”
“You mentioned two possibilities.”
“Power.”
“Power?”
“It’s the only thing they fear, really fear. A new power, one that might disrupt the order of things here. To all of the natural denizens of Hell, the natural order of things is vitally important. If I let them know about my powers, they would no doubt hunt me down too.”
“And you think I have powers… beyond kicking demon butt.”
“It fits.” Saripha paused, looking for the right words. “There is something different about you. They sensed it before you came. I don’t think we should allow you to return to them. I don’t think we should give them what they want.”
“Staying here can’t be a good idea. If this doesn’t work for them, they are bound to find the tower.”
“We can send you away with Kyo. She knows many communities you can hide in.”
I shook my head. “Not my style.”
Saripha sighed. “No, I suppose it’s not.”
Rox stirred. Her voice was weak. “Quentin, you can’t go back. Becoming a proto won’t be so bad for me. They will shelter me here.”
I looked at Rox. I could feel it. I knew how deeply I loved her. Either way we were screwed. If she became a proto, she would forget about me and if I became a proto I would forget about her. There was no us, no future, but I had to do this. It had to be my turn for pain.
Kyo had been quiet, pensive. “We aren’t going to let her stay with the demons. She’s one of us now. They’ll get pissed over that too.”
“Maybe. I’m guessing that if they have me it won’t much matter to them.”
“Once we have her and we know she is safe we are coming for you.”
“I’m sure the proto that I will be will appreciate it. But this is my war. If you get them too interested in your little group here you will have lost everything.”
“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” I turned, surprised by the sound of Paul’s voice. “Look, this is what I tried to warn everyone about. Now that you have started it, it is no longer ‘your war.’ What you do affects all of us. I’m personally not happy about it, as you know, but it is too late to turn course.”
“There is something you are all forgetting.” Saripha put her hand on Rox’s brow while keeping her other hand on her stomach. It comforted Rox. “Rox is not a pawn in all this. It is up to her what we do next. We cannot force her to return to the demons. She must make the decision.”
My first instinct was to object, but Saripha was right. She had to choose. This would return her to a life with the demons.
“Is there any other way for me to be rid of the demon I carry than going back?” Rox stared at the ceiling, fighting against the pain.
“No. I have great power, even though it is weaker in this place. But the demon’s spell works with your biology. The demon child is tied into your nervous system and physiology. I cannot extract him with magic without harming you. But I can offer an alternative.”
“An alternative?”
“I can use magic to induce a stasis state—a coma. You would feel little of the terrible pain, or rather, you would register very little of the pain. You would break out of it when you became a proto.”
Rox turned her face to me. “Would you stay with me if I chose that path?”
“I wish I could. It may in fact be a better solution for you. It is clear to me, however, that they will not stop until they have me. I do not think this group is ready to take on the demons. The only thing I can do to prevent that is to go to the demons myself and confront them.”
/>
“They will turn you into a proto. You will forget everything. And they will control your behavior. They will shape you and brainwash you.” There were tears in her eyes again.
“I will fight them every way I can.”
“It won’t be enough.”
“Probably.”
“We could all go to the caves and prepare for war with the demons.” Izzy suggested.
“We can’t win. We are a bunch of clever people. We need an army and time. We don’t have either.”
Rox looked at Saripha. “Then I must go with him. I must be there to try to find him and help him remember.”
Saripha nodded.
“Rox, keep in mind that I think they will take away the demon child if they can get me, but I don’t actually know this.”
“I know.” Rox smiled. “I think that’s why we call this Hell.”
“I can put you into a mental fog. It will ease the pain of watching the demons take Quentin.” Saripha offered.
“No, thank you. I will do what I have to do, with honor.”
Saripha sighed. “When?” She looked up at me.
“In the morning.”
13.
Saripha came in and sat down at the table where Izzy and I were talking. She was tired, but as they always did, her eyes glowed.
“I finally got her to sleep. The demon within her is quiet and will remain so for at least twenty-four hours. She needs the rest before you go.” Saripha looked directly at me. “You should too.”
“What’s your plan?” Izzy was probably hoping I had come to my senses.
“Make sure they take care of her. Then I’ll kill demons.”
“A two-point plan. That’s progress.”
“Yeah. I’d hate to get in a rut.”
I could tell that this weighed on Izzy. In that quiet way that two people just fall into sync, we had become friends through all this. He knew what I knew. No matter how many demons I managed to take out the next day, I was going to die. Or, at least, what passes for dying in this place. I would be reborn, but there would be no “I” left. They had laid the perfect trap. They had me. I would be lost, another empty denizen of the border town.
Zeon and Paul were in the room, off at different corners. They didn’t talk much. For Zeon, it was probably because of his youth. He was surrounded by adults like his parents. Paul was one who would speak his mind, but was happier with his own thoughts. Sidney was napping. Kyo was meditating.