The first step was always the hardest. I'd been through portals just like this a few times in the past, back after college. Pulling others through was harder. The first step took half an eternity, and the second took half of that. I felt hands tighten on mine. A third step. A fourth. We picked up speed. The next step was light. The next one was the last.
I stumbled over the threshold and went down. Everyone tumbled down around me. Curses tore the still air around us. "Shhh!" Silence.
Utter silence. The sound of the modern world, the omnipresent whisper, the electric hum of information and data, was missing. The silence was so profound, breathing seemed to echo. No secrets whipped through the air around us. No smell of electricity, no stench of alcohol had come through the portal with us. Sterile. Empty.
The room we found ourselves in resembled the basement of the pub, but only superficially. The walls were naked gray, almost translucent. Light was everywhere, coming from nowhere. Looking down at the floor was almost enough to invoke vertigo. While it felt solid enough, it looked as if you could fall through it.
"I've only been here thirty seconds and I already want to leave," Hikari said. She hadn't given up my hand, not even after falling. We stood up together, followed by the rest of the group. "This place feels dead. Like we shouldn't be here."
"We shouldn't," Caleb said. His sword was visible in his hand and he was looking around, twisting and turning to peer toward corners. "This is just on the way to Purgatory itself, sort of a shadow cast by the real thing. Living beings usually don't come here. Souls don't care about how creepy it is."
"If this isn't Purgatory, what's the actual place like?" Tink asked.
I looked to Caleb. I didn't know, but he might. He hesitated. "It's empty. It's infinitely empty. There's no color, no life, nothing except more nothing. I've only been there once and I never want to be there again."
"If it's that empty, how does Project Purgatory work?" Tink asked.
"Wish we knew."
"I bet you do," I muttered.
Caleb glared. "Don't start with me."
"Just saying."
"Don't."
"Gentlemen," Becky said. "I believe we're here for a reason."
We walked up the stairs and I pushed the door open. Touching it felt like I was touching solidified air, weightless but present. Instead of leading into the pub, it opened onto the outside world. No sun hung in the sky, no clouds, no moon. The horizon didn't seem to exist. I picked a direction and we started walking.
There weren't streets, so to speak. There were places where streets should have been. There were buildings where buildings should have been, sometimes. Sometimes there were gaps. Sometimes there were doors or walls, disconnected from everything else. No wind stirred the thick air.
"This is trippy," Hikari said. "I don't feel like I'm really here. Tell me this is just a dream? Please?"
"It's not a dream," Tink snapped. "Where are we going, demon?"
"Going to get picked up," I said.
"Where?"
"Wherever they find us. Navigation isn't an exact science, you know. No such thing as GPS here."
"Could we just shout until they come and get us?"
"Sure, scream to your heart's content," I said. "But let me show you something first. Stay here and watch."
She crossed her arms. I jogged away, counting off about thirty steps before turning around. "Tink, you flat chested bitch!" I shouted.
No reaction. I ran back. "What was that?" she asked.
"You didn't hear it, did you?"
"I probably didn't want to, did I?"
"If you had, I'd be bleeding out," I said. "That's why you can scream as much you want. No one will hear you except for us."
"It's a good thing, too," Caleb added. "Screaming could bring Lucifer forces to us just as easily as those who are looking for us, right?"
I nodded and looked around. "Speaking of which."
Around two dozen dark spots had appeared in the sky. Flapping wings, glowing eyes. I waited until I could see the tinge of green in the leader's eyes, then let out a sigh. Kibs had gotten the message through. She landed in front of me, bat-like wings folding into place. Out of her human form, Mom still wasn't too bad looking. That was saying a lot, considering what our demonic forms tended to look like. "You made it," she said. "I didn't think you would. Lucifer's been looking for you in force. I got a lot of practice lying the past few days."
"You don't need more practice for that, Mom."
She grinned, exposing small pointy teeth. Her gaze traveled from me to Hikari, Tink, and Becky. "Collecting a harem, I see?"
"You've been listening to Kibs. Don't." I made the introductions quickly. She shifted into her favored hybrid form, the sexy human with burning green eyes and neatly folded wings, classic succubus. It was what she used when she wanted to make a point. Judging from the expression on Tink's face, the point was made and made well.
"And you must be Caleb," she said, turning to the angel. His sword was gone and he bowed, rather stiffly. "Don't be like that. You might be a Choirboy, but I've dealt with worse. Besides, I'm only a Baroness. You probably outrank me. "
"I'm only a Power, Your Ladyship," he said.
"Learned in the ways of proper address, are you, Sir Caleb?" Mom smiled, a genuine smile, a rarity for her. "We'll have to talk more sometime. Isaiah? Are you sure about this?"
"It's too late to back out now, isn't it?"
"Of course not," she said. "You can walk back into that pub, find a new hiding spot, and wait for all of this to blow over. Or, you can just wait to die. Right?"
"There are many other ways I would choose to die," I said.
"You may not get a choice this way."
"But it's my choice to do this."
She smiled again. "Let's go. Lucifer's preparing their big move. Azriphel's arguing with the Chairman. Part of the delay you asked for."
"And you're all ready for your part?"
Heads nodded. Most of the demons behind her were Asmodeus, a couple Beelzebubs and Mammons among them. I even recognized a Leviathan. My mom morphed back into her fully demonic form and spread her wings wide. I followed suit, pushing ichor through my body. I pointed at Hikari. "Take her. I'll take the short one."
"What?" I moved behind Tink before she could protest further, grabbed her around the waist, and lifted into the air. Hikari squeaked as my mom followed suit. Caleb unfurled his wings behind us, lifting Becky with him. Together, we flew toward a red glow in the distance, signature of the presence of hundreds of demons.
"Demon, you're insane, you know that?" Tink shouted up at me some time later as we winged through the gray sky. "This is the craziest idea I've ever heard."
"Coming from you, that means something," I shouted back.
"Haven't you ever heard of consistency? You flip between utter cowardice and fearless insanity like a light switch!"
"I like to win."
"Do you think we've got a chance of winning this?"
"If I didn't, would we be doing this?"
"I'm serious!"
I hitched her up closer. My arms were getting tired. Distances on this layer were deceptive. We'd been flying for almost a half hour and didn't seem any closer than when we set out. I flicked my wings in one of the Asmodeus common signals, landing to rest. "Do you really want to know, Tink?"
She craned her neck to try to look up at me. "Yes!"
"This is my last plan with any reasonable chance of success," I said. "The only idea I have left is sort of a Hail Mary pass, which is sort of a moot point, since we're likely to die here if we fail."
We spiraled toward the ground. One of the demons in our group had thought ahead to this moment, dropping a fistful of brown dirt that scattered across the translucent ground. If he hadn't, someone would have augured in, no doubt. This place played all sorts of tricks on perception. Tink didn't say anything until she was on her own two feet again. "We won't die here," she said. "Don't worry about that."
I chuckled and stretched, trying to loosen up. Flying wasn't all burning ichor. My shoulders were killing me. "What makes you say that?"
"We're the good guys," she said.
"Everyone thinks they're the good guys."
"I know. But we really are."
Flapping wings blew air at us. My mom dropped Hikari off next to us, looped, and drove herself into a somersault roll. Both Tink and Hikari winced as she hit the ground. I just watched her bounce up and fling her hands up into the air, as if she was some sort of Olympic gymnast. "Showoff."
"She is that," Hikari said. "She's pretty talkative, too."
"I don't want to know."
"I do," Tink said. She grabbed Hikari's arm and pulled her away. I sighed.
To the side, Caleb and Becky were walking together, Caleb's white feathered wings a stark contrast to all the black and red demonic wings on display. The demons gave them a wide berth, just as they gave the mages and me a wide berth as well. They stuck together, speaking amongst themselves, giving me the occasional glance or stare.
Uncertainty. I had called in the family connection. The family connection had pulled strings. They weren't loyal to me, or even to Mom, just returning a favor. What sort of favor did they owe the family to take this sort of request? Lucifer wouldn't be outright trying to kill anyone here except for my little group, but it could happen. Hell of a way to pay back a favor.
Something phased through the air in front of me. "Bright?" asked a faint voice. It wasn't Kibs or the Chairman, nor was it even fully phased in. The imp was just close enough to speak.
"That's me. Message?"
"Kibs is looking for you," the imp said. "Stay put."
It took less than a minute for the imp to find me. "You assholes move fast," Kibs complained as he phased in. "You're practically right on top of them."
"Bullshit."
"No bullshit, another three minutes of flight and you'd be in Azriphel's lap."
"I hate this place. I thought the Gates were hundreds of miles away."
"We all hate this place, trust me. Most of us swear that distance here is flexible. All right, Zay, we're gathering. The Chairman will let you know when it's time to move."
"How?"
The imp grinned wide, his teeth bared. "You'll know, trust me. You ready?"
"Any time," I said.
"Good luck, Zay. Don't fucking die! You owe me around three kegs at this point. And a year's subscription to the site of my choice."
"I might as well just buy you your own computer," I said. "Oh, dammit. I need to buy myself a new computer myself. Son of a bitch, I had forgotten."
"No rush. I don't charge too much interest." Before I could make any sort of rejoinder, he phased out. Damn imps.
I waved our group over. Tink and Hikari had identical smirks as they looked in my direction. Thanks, Mom. "The Consortium's almost ready," I said. "They'll give us the signal when they're ready. We should start moving in that direction, we're only a couple minutes flight away. We made good time."
"You're still ready to do this?" Mom asked.
"It's the last chance we'll have," I said. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You've got more to lose than I do."
She shrugged. "Opheran will understand. No one's going to be upset if you win, except for Lucifer and Amon, of course. Maybe not even all of them. Everyone here has something to gain from a win. Prestige, influence, favors. A loss will cost us, but here's the point, Isaiah. We all stand to gain a lot more than we'd lose."
Self-interest fuels everything. I felt myself relax, ever so slightly. "All right. Let's go over the plan one last time." I sketched it in the air, wishing I had something to draw with. "The Consortium imps will phase in and attempt to distract Azriphel's people. While they're doing that, we're going to hit him from what will look like three angles. Assuming he's right in front of the Gates, at least."
"What if he isn't?" Hikari asked.
"Doesn't matter too much," I said. "As long as Tink and I don't shoot straight through him into the Gates, we'll be fine. It's just to make sure he can't be sure where it's coming from. Mom and Hikari, you'll be center. Caleb and Becky, about thirty degrees left. Me and Tink, same angle right. The mass of Mom's friends will be with her and Becky, a couple detailed to the other groups. They're just to make sure the Lucifers don't get too close too soon."
"Got it," Mom said.
"Hikari, you'll be faking a big force blast. If you can get an angle without hitting the Gates, toss some hellfire into her spell, Mom. The more dangerous you seem, the better. Caleb, Becky, you'll probably have the easiest part. Just look like a couple shady characters and draw some attention over there."
"And you and Anna will hit Azriphel with everything you've got," Caleb said. "How are you going to find him in that mess?"
"Kibs said the Consortium will take care of that," I said.
"And then what?" Caleb asked.
"Run like an army of very pissed off demons is on your ass," I suggested. "Get back to Earth as quickly as possible by any means possible. We'll regroup at First Revelation." I hadn't thought that far ahead. The dead wouldn't need a meeting place.
"Is that the signal?" Hikari pointed upwards.
I turned, looked, looked again. High up in the gray sky, a mass of imps so dense as to seem solid floated. A black mass, the edges faintly blurred as tiny wings beat, highlighted with occasional yellow sparks as various groups of imps looked in our direction. The yellow sparks seemed to grow and spread until across the roiling black mass, there was a word spelled across the backdrop: GO.
"That's sort of freaky," Tink said.
I grabbed her and lifted off the ground. "Let's get this done," I shouted.
Chapter Twenty
Hikari shouted something as we lifted off, but I couldn't hear her as both Mom and Caleb beat their wings to lift off. Her eyes stayed fixed on mine, until I had to look away and move toward the right flank. A moment later, four demons, all Asmodeus, moved to flank me. I exchanged nods with their leader, then watched the Consortium act.
The mass of imps dissolved, streams and tendrils reaching downwards toward the red glow. I could only imagine the consternation of the demons there. The imps would be phasing through them, flapping wings in their faces, winging through the ranks of Lucifer. I could almost imagine the shrieks they were making. The Gates were probably not a pleasant place to be right now.
What would Azriphel do? Would he order his followers to attack the Consortium? That would be a dangerous move. The imps wouldn't attack him unless he attacked first, and if he did that, he would lose a number of his forces in short order. His best bet was to ignore them and get on with what he was doing. That was our best bet too.
After a couple of minutes of flight, we were in position. In the distance, I saw our mass of demons surrounding Mom and Hikari. Further off, I saw the white sweep of Caleb's wings, barely visible against the gray backdrop. The imps were still swirling around the area in front of the Gates. I could barely make out the red glow beneath them. The occasional green glow of hellfire flashed through the cloud, but the imps weren't moving to attack.
"Those are the Gates?" Tink shouted up at me.
I looked at where she was pointing. The Gates were unimpressive at this distance, an oblong oval, dark gray stone that looked as if it had been rolled into place centuries ago. Closer up, the stone was polished, carved, and warm to the touch. I had been here once, long ago. The stone gave off a feeling that it was alive. It had freaked me out then. I didn't have time to freak out now.
Kibs phased into view in front of me. "We've got a targeting solution for you," he said.
"How are we going to pull this off?" Tink asked. "I can't see shit."
"Just aim at me."
"Seriously?"
"I know you want to, sweetcheeks." Kibs leered at her.
She reached to her side, pulled her knife, and slashed one of her palms. "I like this plan more and more with every passing moment," s
he said as she reached up with the blade. "Ready, demon?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." I leaned back, pulling her back against me. Uncomfortably close. Her hair tickled. I held her up with my left arm and let her slash my right hand with her knife. Blood and ichor pooled in my palm and she clasped my bloody hand with her own. The mix dripped to the ground far below us. "We're only going to get one shot at this. I can't hold us steady for long, especially not when I'm using a lot of ichor."
"That's why I'm taking care to do this right," she said. She drew the force rune with our blood and drew a circle around it. Five symbols decorated the circle, each an amplification of the spell she was about to cast. I slid my right hand under and in front of the rune, letting hellfire burn. I concentrated until sweat ran down my face and sides, forcing the sphere of yellow-green fire to grow. "That's enough. Here goes nothing."
"Don't say that," I said. "Here goes everything."
I sensed her grin, and then she slammed her bloody palm against the rune.
Force magic, amplified, doubled, doubled again, streaming through enough hellfire to melt an aircraft carrier. Doing this on Earth, we would have had to worry about collateral damage. Seismic aftershocks. Radioactive fallout. Global warming. Doing it here let her indulge her tastes in blowing things up, real big, real good.
Kibs phased out as soon as her hand drew back. Behind him, another imp phased. Behind that one, another one. There was an unbroken chain of imps, pointing directly to where Azriphel was. The entire cloud of imps started to shimmer and vanish, clumps phasing out as they realized what was coming. Below, the red gazes looked around. Some of them must have seen us floating, the glow of hellfire immediately drawing eyes to us.
Too late.
She hadn't gone for a compressed, focused beam like last time. She simply unleashed everything she had. The blast pulsed, shimmered, burned, spread and tightened in ways that were simply impossible to predict. It moved fast. Within seconds, it struck the target standing a few dozen feet away from the Gates. I could hear Tink screaming, incoherent rage and hate, emptying her lungs as she emptied her full magic power into one hellish blast.
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