Galefire II : Holy Avengers

by Kenny Soward

  But she smiled, and that was the most important thing.

  Lonnie smiled back.

  Bess leaned over them, hands on her knees. She looked shocked through with everything that had happened, probably more action than she’d bargained for in one day. But there was a solidness about her, a soldier’s determination that kept her going regardless of her weary legs and sore muscles.

  “Okay. We’re moving.” And then to Selix. “Can you stand?”

  She gave a brief nod and braced her hands against the floor, trying to get her bare feet under her.

  Lonnie lifted a torn piece of canvas from the ground and realized it had been one of her shoes. Nope, those hadn’t survived, but her jean shorts and T-shirt had made it with just a few charred holes.

  He helped Selix until she could lean against a wall. Looked around, saw that the Drear Sisters had gotten themselves together and were none the worse for wear. Not surprising. They were like cockroaches, albeit pretty, deadly ones. Hard to kill. Might survive a nuclear explosion if put to the test.

  “Crash, let’s… Oh no.” Bess was working on getting the man to his feet. He sat slumped over, clutching his arm to his stomach. The puddle beneath him was the color of rust.

  Lonnie knelt beside his friend. “Hey, big guy. How’s the appendage?”

  “Ah, man. I don’t know. Afraid to look. Hurts like hell.”

  “Let me see.” Lonnie pulled Crash's uninjured arm away and gagged. The one he'd stuck into Makare's whirlwind was still an arm, but the skin had been sloughed off, leaving patches of muscle exposed. No protruding bone, though.

  “Damn. We’ve got to get this covered. Fast.”

  “Not going to help. Too wet. Won't stop the bleeding.” Crash’s face turned up, eyes wavering as he tried to focus. “Just leave me. And I ain’t trying to be a hero. I just don’t want to slow you down.”

  Lonnie gave a quick glance around, seeing that none of them were in great shape. “We’re not leaving you, man. It's not an option. Hang in there.” He looked for something to use as a cover.

  Lonnie removed his jacket and what remained of his shirt. He motioned for the others to give up pieces of clothing. He received the bottom section of Elsa’s Perfect Princess T-shirt and a square of material from Ingrid. Bess stripped without batting an eye, leaving her breasts bare to the world. She handed Lonnie her shirt and shrugged her jacket back on.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  Bess nodded, knelt opposite Lonnie, and grimaced at the sight of the wound. She crossed herself. “Lord Jesus help and heal this man. Where do we start?”

  “I don’t know. Shit.”

  Selix’s legs bumped Lonnie. She slid to her knees hard on the stone. Lonnie steadied her.

  Head nodding with exhaustion, she reached forward with shaking hands, placed them on Crash’s arm telling him, “This is going to hurt.”

  Knowing what wild power might come out of Selix, they scooted away to give her room.

  Bess looked uneasy. “What’s she doing?”

  Lonnie shrugged and listened as a soft song crept up to challenge the drips of the tunnel and the distant rumbles of the Under River in its final gasps. It was a sweet tune in that ancient language. Wait, he did understand some of the words.

  Heart burning,

  Cogs turning,

  Over the mountain peaks,

  A life of flame and fire…

  A flash blinded him, forced his gaze away. He cursed and shielded his eyes until the fiery whiteness receded and he could see again. Crash lay on his back, Selix thrown across his belly.

  Bess knelt, inspecting Crash’s now blackened arm. She nodded appreciatively, touching the thin crust covering it, thicker in some spots than others, but overall acting as a crunchy cast which at least stemmed the blood flow. “Not bad. Never seen anything like it.”

  They took the cloth they’d gathered and wrapped it around the char to protect it.

  “Don’t get too excited,” Lonnie said. “We have to carry a near three hundred pound man out of here.”

  “I will take responsibility. He’s my baby.” It was Ingrid, crouching, gently slapping Crash’s face to rouse him.

  “And what to do about her?” Bess hitched her thumb at Makare crawling away from them.

  “Elsa.”

  The whorchal gave Lonnie a toothy grin. “I thought you’d never ask.” Her boots splashed through the mud after his sister. Makare crawled faster, gasped as Elsa snatched her hair.

  “Come now, little dearie,” Elsa said, lifting Makare to her feet.

  “Wait.” Bess held up a hand.

  Lonnie wished he had a cigarette. “What?”

  “I understand why y’all are angry. I really do. But you don’t have to be monsters. You can show her compassion.”

  Elsa snickered.

  “No, we do have to be monsters, Bess. Even you. Because my sister has some wicked shit planned for your ECC. Your father, too. Here she is. Go ahead and ask her.”

  Bess edged down the flooding hallway. “Fine, but we keep moving.”

  Lonnie went to Selix, touched her trembling shoulder. She mumbled something and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her. She weighed all of a hundred pounds soaking wet.

  He nodded. “Let’s go.”

  The gang huddled close as the space tightened around them, but it was amazing how much room hobbling required. Lonnie eyed the ceiling in the light of Bess’s torch, glinting off the leaks and rivulets and pouring in water.

  Once they’d traversed the tunnel a good distance, Bess tried her luck with Lonnie's sister. “Look, Makare. I can make things easier on you, but you have to come clean. Tell me what you were up to.”

  Makare’s face was slack but for the pain of Elsa pulling her along by her hair. Her head shook. “As I said, I initially arrived via the old gateway. I only wanted my brother, nothing more.”

  “You’re saying you showing up here in the Under River was a coincidence?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “I don’t care whether you believe me or not.”

  "How did you suspect Lonnie was on Earth?"

  "Several days ago, a lost scryer of mine returned to Xester through the gate beneath this city. After apologizing profusely for betraying me and not returning to me sooner, he explained how he'd picked up my brother's soul scent. Poor thing hoped I'd reward him."

  "What did you do?"

  "I had him beheaded, then let his body swing from my chambers over the Boiling Sea."

  "Disgusting," Bess sneered.

  Makare continued, unabashed. "The gate needed tuning on our side, but I was eventually able to pass through. I visited twice before, but this time the old man's tether drew me. I calculated that my tracker must have found you beneath the river, my own beasts having converged on the same location. I took a chance."

  "His name was Gruff," Selix said.

  Makare shrugged.

  "Makes sense," Lonnie said. "Her showing up was about the time my memories started returning."

  Bess clenched her fists but kept moving. Down, down they passed through another wide chamber that looked wrecked. Puddles everywhere. The artifacts stored here were soggy and warped with the impinging water and seepage. More crates and priceless furniture ruined. Antiques with Native American touches, chairs with carved totems for legs and waterlogged leather tassels. A stack of walking sticks leaning against the wall, each topped with the head of a spirit animal; bears, wolves, and eagles.

  Bess clicked her tongue as she surveyed the damage. “Shame.”

  “Yeah.”

  They moved on, agreeing to choose tunnels that wound upward when they could. Another fifteen minutes of slogging and Lonnie figured they’d gone about a mile, but it was impossible to tell in the damp chill with very little light.

  Lonnie started to sweat. The cold-flu sweats. The druggie sweats. The hardcore cramps would start in about an hour.

  They’d need to fix s
oon.

  And always following them was a distant rumble as parts of the Under River collapsed upon itself.

  He asked Bess, “You feeling like we’re running out of time?”

  “Felt that way since the moment I met you guys.”

  Lonnie chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I can understand that. You still going to arrest us when we get topside?”

  Bess shook her head as if she hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Shoot, I just want to see my dad. Make sure my people are okay, know what I mean?”

  He nodded.

  The tunnels and chambers became ruttier, as if wormed out by workers with axes and old hoes before proper cutting tools were invented, not the smooth stone of these last few sections. These passages dropped sharply at times, turned, and rose just as suddenly again. There were parts of what appeared to be larger structures, and Lonnie was struck dumb with the realization there were buildings buried beneath the Under River.

  They walked under a jutting eave engraved with that same cuneiform and arrow script they’d seen back in Gruff’s room. There were block etchings, too. Square and fine, chiseled expertly out of what appeared to be limestone.

  At the corner perched a tall, worn statue. A humanoid figure bathed in shadow, but not human.

  They stopped to rest. Lonnie bolstered Selix comfortably between his legs, her head laying against his thigh, as he balanced his butt on a protruding shelf. Bess sat on a stone with her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands.

  Ingrid leaned Crash against the wall, and he slid until his ass hit the floor, arm clutched in his lap. Ingrid collapsed next to him. Her pale eyes caught Lonnie looking. “Any ideas? Are we close, Lonnie?”

  Lonnie looked ahead to where the passage hooked left, its curve lighted by a tremendous growth of the glowing moss. They could walk another ten miles down here and he’d still have no clue. They could walk forever. Of course, it wouldn’t be forever. It wouldn’t be long at all.

  His eyes drifted. Elsa had Makare pinned against the wall of the cave, pressed up against her and doing something to her neck.

  “Elsa?”

  The whorchal pulled her head away from the pale, clammy skin, leaving a thin line of blood to run around Makare’s delicate shoulder blade to the curve of her backside. Elsa’s face was the perfect expression of guilt, bloody lips and wide eyes, and Lonnie noticed she’d picked the darkest part of the alcove to have her little snack.

  “Don’t eat the prisoner before we get her topside.”

  The whorchal pouted. “Sorry Lons. But she’s quite tasty.”

  “Bring her here. Sit her. Thanks.”

  Makare plopped to the ground a few feet from Lonnie, where she tucked her legs beneath her to keep herself mostly out of a puddle. She glared at him through defeated, angry eyes, tearful and bloodshot. Body naked and shivering. No one had thought to cover her. Hell, they had nothing to cover her with.

  Lonnie shrugged. “Don’t blame me. You brought this on yourself. Should have been nicer. Should have fucking stayed home.”

  Makare grimaced. Spit blood near Lonnie’s feet.

  He gave her a pointed look. “I don’t care where you spit, but it better not touch me.”

  Makare nodded faintly, eyes falling to the floor.

  Lonnie sighed, glancing up at the statue. “Hey, can I see the flashlight?”

  Bess, shifted, grabbed the flashlight, and handed it over. Lonnie shined it upward.

  The light hit the carved stone, casting a bold shadow against the ceiling, presenting a figure covered in long, flowing robes, the garments dripping like runnels of wax. Hands held together at its chest in a sign of reverence. Its face wasn’t human. Not even close.

  Bess looked up.

  “Weird, huh?”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Definitely not from here. Ever seen it on your world?”

  Lonnie shook his head. “Nope. But I don’t quite remember everything. And my mother sheltered me from a lot.”

  A part of him wanted to ask his sister what she knew, but her snicker at his last comment made his stomach turn.

  Still, she gazed at the statue along with them. Lonnie thought he saw recognition light her eyes, but she looked away with a shrug.

  Bess gestured with her head, and Lonnie leaned closer.

  “It's the same script we saw in the Arboretum.”

  “Right.” Lonnie didn’t know what to think of the writing or his sister’s sudden presence here on Earth, but for some strange reason, he believed her when she said she’d not planned to come here. That she’d scried him here, sensed Gruff’s portal opening, and followed it. All a result of him waking up from the icing. “Okay,” he said, “Let’s get moving.”

  Makare’s face fell. “I hate this place. Earth. It’s difficult. Just kill me now and be done with it, brother.”

  Lonnie patted her knee, smiling. “That’s not happening either. We have so much to talk about. Provided we don’t drown first.”

  “Ah,” Makare sighed. “One can only hope.”

  “Get used to it,” Lonnie said, standing. “It's only going to get worse for you.”

  The sound of rushing of water splashing in the next room over reached them. The previous chamber flooding fast.

  Bess stood and hoisted her pack on her shoulders. “I’m not liking that sound.”

  “I’m hating that sound.”

  Ingrid was half-sobbing trying to wake Crash. The man was unresponsive, grunting as she became more panicked.

  Lonnie crouched by his friend. “Hey, buddy. We have to go. Don’t make us drag you.”

  “Listen to him,” Ingrid pleaded. “Come on, up, up up!”

  Crash made a strange, throat-clearing noise, nodded heavily, and picked himself up with Ingrid’s help, as did the rest of them, leaving the reverent and grotesque statue behind to greet the oncoming flood. Lonnie was relieved at the possibility of the ugly thing being buried under forty feet of grime and mud. Buried for a long fucking time, he hoped.

  They rounded a sharp curve, clearing the rising water which had risen to their knees.

  Elsa gleefully pulled Makare by her arm now, giving her tangled nest of hair a break. Selix walked on her own, still dazed. They made better progress although there wasn’t much hope they could outrun the flooding for long.

  The tunnel narrowed to the point Lonnie could extend his arms and touch the sides, once again rough-hewn stone and clay. They’d gone just a short way when there came an exclamation from Bess up ahead, followed by Elsa's gleeful whoop. Lonnie pushed forward, supporting Selix with an arm around her waist, wondering what the fuss was about.

  The toe of his boot kicked against something protruding from the floor. He looked down, couldn’t see what it was, but tested it and realized it was a step.

  A fucking step!

  “Steps.”

  “Yes,” said Ingrid, voice muffled with her face buried in Crash’s chest.

  Lonnie’s eyes glared after Bess’s light bouncing in the dark. She ran up the flight, taking the steps two at a time while the rest of them came at a turtle’s pace. Lonnie and Selix made painfully slow progress, like an old couple with bad hips. The water was still rising fast, still dripping too. No hope in any direction, except those steps.

  “Can you see anything?” Lonnie called up.

  The flashlight beam disappeared, dousing everyone in darkness. Fragments of light played at the top, Bess checking things out. A moment of doubt when he thought the light might vanish completely.

  Faith.

  “Yeah! A chamber,” she called. “I think it’s just what we’re looking for.”

  Bess waited for Elsa and Makare to pass and then descended, got under Crash’s other arm, and helped him and Ingrid to the top. Bolstered by the revelation, Lonnie found some extra strength and carried Selix the rest of the way.

  The chamber was smaller than the receiving room they’d entered on the far side of the Under River, but with that same loose mud ceiling with old rubber hoses dangling
in the center.

  No other exits. No other way out.

  Selix turned to him, hugged him close, and said, “I love you,” in a sleepy voice.

  “Don’t give up yet.”

  “I’m not.”

  Bess hustled over to the collection of dangling hoses, sniffed tentatively at the rotting rubber, and made a face as she wrapped her lips around one and blew. Satisfied with that, she drew an experimental breath. “Well, the airway is clear,” she said, and tried several others as the gang hobbled up.

  Lonnie took a hose and blew into it. Blocked. So was the next.

  Bess bent one in his direction. “This one is fine.”

  Lonnie put it in his mouth and tried it, receiving a mouthful of stale air. Tasted like sucking shit, and took more effort to get something out than the ones they’d entered with, but it was breathable. “Thanks.”

  Selix reached up and got her own hose, putting her lips to it and blowing. “This one’s good too.” She grasped it with one hand, locked her other arm into Lonnie’s.

  Great,” Lonnie gave her his best smile, which felt ghoulish on his face. “Think any of Gruff’s children are still alive?”

  Selix shrugged.

  Bess gazed up at the mud.

  “All right…”

  The sound of dripping, rushing water was everywhere now, and Lonnie knew they would become part of the river at any moment. He imagined them floating along, bloated bodies being picked clean by fishes as they went. Hell, they might even make it all the way to Louisville if the flood gates didn’t catch them. A quick and morbid lift back home for Bess.

  “What’s this?” Makare had taken hold of a hose proffered to her by Elsa. She held it away from her, as if it was a dead mouse.

  ”Put it in your mouth and breathe, dearie, or I can turn you upside down and my sister can stick it in your ass. Kinky, but I don’t think you’re ready for that.”

  Lonnie didn’t try to hide his smile. “We’re beneath a river, but we’re going up through the mud. We need these to breathe.” And he figured his sister was smart enough to take it from there.

  Makare started to protest, but Elsa whispered something in her ear and the former Ruler of Xester closed her eyes, shivered, and nodded.