Double-Barreled Devilry

by D Michael Bartsch

  I snarled and ripped my sword free, pulling it up and out of the Hellion's shoulder. The thing fell in a bloody heap, falling into the open carriage. I turned to see two more ghouls heading toward me. I holstered the Dragoon and leaped from the carriage. I came down twenty feet away. I swung my sword in an overhead arc as I came to the ground and took one of the ghouls at the shoulder. Flesh parted in a wave of blackness, blood errupting from neck to groin as the thing was cut in half.

  Both halves collapsed to the ground as I spun away. The second ghoul lashed out at my unprotected face. I dipped back and swung the sword, taking the ghoul's arm off at the shoulder joint. I spun the blade, and an eyeless head left the ghoul's body and bounced off the cobbled street. A booted foot to the chest sent the corpse flying with the crunch of snapping bones.

  I checked my surroundings. Elena was fifty feet to my right. She flowed like water. No movement was wasted, and every twist of her body was met with a wave of blood and entrails as Hellions were decapitate, gutted, and maimed.

  I felt the need to stand back to back with my love and fight the forces of Hell together. I knew that my duty lay in the overturned carriage. It was being overrun by Hellions. The remaining knights were wounded and fought desperately to defend the device we'd fought so hard to obtain.

  I broke into a run, closing the distance in seconds. Gabriel had dismounted and was holding against a wave of ghouls. As I approached, he roared and swept his broadsword in a vicious strike that cut through three ghouls, separating legs from torsos on all three. I screamed as I approached and leaped into the air. A fourth hellion had slipped behind Gabriel.

  My armored boot struck, and I felt bones snap. The ghoul left the ground and landed in a heap a dozen yards away. Its right side was caved in, and mouthfuls of blood poured out with every ragged breath.

  Gabriel turned at the sound. He was covered with black gore. The ichor stained his red cloak.

  “Good of you to join us, brother!”

  We moved together, back to back. Years of training overrode conscious thought. We moved by instinct. Ghouls were pouring out of holes in the ground. They came from buildings and over rooftops.

  “There must be hundreds of them!” I yelled.

  “I've never heard of such a nest.” Gabriel roared back. “Where is your wife?”

  As if the mention of her name brought her, Elena appeared. She cut down two ghouls and hamstrung a third. She spun as she approached and placed her back to ours.

  “They are attacking the carriage! We must protect the device!”

  Even as Elena shouted above the dirge, I could see four ghouls rip through one of the remaining knights and tear into the overturned carriage.

  “They're after the Eye!” Gabriel shouted.

  I hacked at a ghoul, splitting it from groin to shoulder in a wave of black. I spun and hit another above the knee. I felt bones snap as my sword passed through cleanly. The ugly beast snarled in rage. I smashed a gauntleted fist into its open mouth. Teeth shattered and bones broke as the hellion was lifted from the ground by the force of the blow.

  Gabriel ripped an arm free of a larger ghoul and beat the Hellion with its own arm. His sword was lodged in the spinal column of another creature. He left it and continued to rip into the beasts with his gauntleted fists.

  “They have the Eye!” Elena shouted.

  I turned, stuck my sword through an eyeless face and twisted. The thing dropped, and I had a view of three ghouls exiting the carriage. One of them was holding a wooden box in its clawed hands.

  “We have to stop them!”

  Elena leaped into the air, clearing three ghouls. She landed on the other side of them and slashed through tendons. All three ghouls dropped to the ground. After that, she took off at a run.

  “Elena!” I shouted.

  I glanced back at Gabriel. He was surrounded. He had a knife in one hand and was slashing and hacking at anything that moved.

  I elbowed an attacking Hellion and ran toward Gabriel. I stopped long enough to pull his blade free of the fallen Hellion. The beast was still hissing and spitting blood as I pulled the sword free. I stomped my boot down on its face. The skull popped as my foot hit hard enough to grind stones to powder.

  Holding a sword in each hand, I started to spin. I moved freely, arms twisting and striking as my body turned and flowed like water. I was the bringer of death, the danse macabre.

  “Down!” I roared.

  Gabriel dropped to his knees. Centuries of training had ingrained the command. I swung both blades in a terrifying arc. Flesh and bone split and tore before the onslaught. Blood, organs, and unidentifiable flesh filled the air as a half a dozen ghouls died in a screaming fury.

  Gabriel bounced back to his feet. I released his blade mid spin, and he flowed with the movement, catching the sword in a reverse grip and cutting down two more ghouls in a single motion. We moved, back to back. I could feel his presence, and I let myself sink into the rhythm of the battle. My sword moved, and death followed for every Hellion in front of me.

  It was over in seconds, a pile of corpses littering the ground by our feet. I turned to my brother. His faceless helmet was so drenched in black Hellion blood that I could no longer see the red “V” painted on the front of it. I could taste the bitter ichor in my mouth as it ran down my face.

  I looked and saw Elena's cloak disappear into a building on the other side of the square. Two wounded knights were still trying to hold off against a wall of ghouls attacking the carriage.

  “Go after Elena.” Gabriel said. “I'll handle these foul beasts.”

  I felt a wave of relief inside of me. A flood of righteous anger quickly drowned it out. Someone had sent these beasts against us. I would find the one responsible.

  I nodded once and ran for the building. Nothing stood in my way as I covered the distance. I slowed as I came to the darkened doorway. I sheathed my sword and pulled a long single-edged knife. It was inferior in the open, but the building would be enclosed, and I doubted I would have enough room to maneuver with my sword effectively.

  The building was dark as I crossed the threshold. My eyes adjusted immediately, enhancing to draw in ambient light. The floor was wet with half-dried blood. I could hear movement below me. Trails of clawed and booted prints cut through the pooled blood.

  I moved quickly, scanning as I followed the trail to a spiral staircase. I looked down over the railing. I couldn't see anyone on the level below. Moving quickly, I placed one hand on the railing and vaulted over.

  I dropped like a stone and struck the ground with enough force to crack it. The blood trail was gone, but I could hear screams to my right. I moved across the open basement and pulled open a door that led into a larder. A ghoul had been disemboweled and was missing an arm. The creature was moving slowly towards a pile of meat that had once been the people who lived in the home.

  I stomped the bastard's skull and felt wet brain squish beneath my boot. I looked further into the larder and saw that there was a hole in the floor at the far end of the room.

  I moved to it quickly. I looked down into a tunnel below. Paris was riddled with catacombs and no doubt this building had been placed on the top of one. The hole had been scratched and clawed out. Ghouls had tunneled through like rats.

  I heard a scream echo through the tunnel. I didn't need to see anything to know that it had been Elena. My heart raced as I dropped into the pitch-black tunnel. My eyes strained, but even the Enlightenment had its limits. There was no light for my eyes to draw in. The tunnel smelled of excrement. It smelled of fresh blood covering the lingering scent of old death.

  Another scream ripped through the tunnel. Rage bubbled up inside of me. I placed my hand on the wall to my left and started moving. Blind, I strained my other senses. Ahead, I could hear the sounds of claws scraping against stone. I could smell Hellion blood and the stink of decay. The stench was almost overwhelming and was increasing with every step.

  My hand left the wall and continued on i
nto empty space. I sank to the ground, cocking my head to listen. I quickly realized that it wasn't necessary. I could make out a hint of flickering light off to my left. I tightened my grip on the knife and took off at a run. Something that I could only assume was a bone snapped beneath my foot as I ran.

  The light grew with every step. I could make out more of my surroundings, and I could see that the entire tunnel was riddled with bones and half eaten corpses from a variety of creatures. Pieces of rat and other things were strewn in piles across the length of the tunnel.

  The shape of a crouched ghoul came into view as I rounded a shallow bend. The thing was chewing on something. It turned as I approached, its unnatural ears picking out my footsteps. I flipped the knife around, grasping it by the blade and hurled it at the creature. It sank deep into the beast's throat, strangling the growl it had no doubt been about to sound.

  It took a lumbering swing at me. I ducked beneath the claws and snaked around behind it. I wrapped my arm around the eyeless face, reaching fingers into the gaping earhole on the side of its face for leverage.

  I pulled. The flesh ripped in a wave of blood around the knife. Skin and muscle tore as I pulled head from torso. Hot blood rushed in a wave over my armor, leaking in through the cracks to stain my skin.

  I pulled my knife free of its spine and let the corpse drop to the ground in a heap.

  I was close to the lighted end of the tunnel now, and I could see a clearing in front of me. My chest heaved as I saw the scene.

  Torches glowed in sconces around the open space. A circle of ghouls waited at the edge of the room. Beyond them, was a man garbed in a dark hunter's cloak. The hood was pulled, and his face was hidden in shadow. Elena was on the ground in front of him. She was gasping for breath, clutching her stomach as a puddle of blood expanded on the ground around her.

  I couldn't hear what was being said over the sound of the blood pounding in my ears. I felt something break inside of me. I tossed the knife aside as I ran. I pulled the Dragoon and unsheathed my sword.

  I snarled as I broke through the tunnel. I swung the heavy longsword and took two ghouls in the head, removing the tops of their skulls in fountains of blood. The stranger turned at the sound.

  I thumbed back the hammer of the Dragoon and fired. The shot took him in the stomach. I wanted him to hurt, to watch him bleed and die slowly.

  More ghouls were closing in. I thumbed the hammer and fired as rapidly as I could point the barrel at them. When I was finally met with a click, I roared and threw the heavy revolver with all the strength I could find. The chunk of steel took a ghoul in the chest and embedded itself there. The beast struggled to pull it free. I finished it with a downward swing that cut it cleanly in half from the top of its skull to the bottom of its groin.

  The air was choked with acrid smoke from the gunpowder. I waved my hand to part the cloud.

  Satisfied everything was dead; I turned back. The hooded stranger was on his feet and had Elena, his gloved hand on her throat.

  “Not another step monsieur.” He said, his French accent heavy.

  I froze, my hand gripping the handle of my sword so tightly that knuckles cracked.

  “Drop the sword.”

  He was less than ten feet away. He didn't have a weapon that I could see, and he was severely wounded from the gut shot. I knew that I could clear the distance in an instant and remove his arm from his body.

  Blood was flowing freely from the gaping hole in the bottom of Elena's breastplate. Her eyes were only half open in semi-consciousness. Her body could heal if I could get to her and help stop the bleeding.

  “I said drop it. I will not ask again.”

  I growled beneath my breath and dropped the blade. It struck the ground with a clatter that echoed through the empty tunnels.

  “Let her go.” I said, my teeth clenched.

  “I'm afraid that I cannot.” He said. “If I were to release her, you would surely kill me.”

  “If you don't, you'll be begging for Hell by the time I'm finished.”

  He shuffled, putting his back to a tunnel and started pulling Elena backward. Between both of their injuries, he was moving desperately slow.

  I looked for his other hand. It was at his side, clutching to the box the ghouls had removed from the carriage. Whoever he was, he had orchestrated everything. He was the reason several hunters and acolytes had died on the streets above us. He was also the reason that dozens of innocents had been slaughtered and used for food.

  I thought quickly and decided that if he put this much effort into retrieving it, the box was worth more to him than anything else. I turned my body, careful not to move forward. I kept talking as I reached behind my cloak.

  “Let her go, and you can walk away. You have my word as a Knight that I will not follow you. You should know, even if you get the device out of these tunnels, we know of everyone willing to pay for it. You'll never be able to sell it.

  “Walk away, take the box if you wish.”

  “Tempting.” He said. “However, there are things money cannot buy. Some things can only be bought in blood. Also, I don't know if I can trust the word of a man who has taken an oath to hunt down and kill me and my kind.”

  I wrapped my hand around the Colt Model 1849. The tiny three-inch barreled revolver was tucked neatly in a holster that I had installed on the back of my breastplate. I pulled it halfway out and thumbed hammer, making sure to speak so he wouldn't hear the hammer click into place.

  “I cannot promise that you will never be hunted again. Let her go, and you will go free this day. That I can promise you.”

  He took another step back. Every step he moved, it would compromise the aim of the short-barreled revolver. I couldn't wait any longer.

  I moved as fast as I could. My arm blurred. It looked as if it just appeared in front of me, outstretched with the Colt pointed forward.

  I squeezed the trigger and watched as the wooden box splintered and tumbled from surprised hands. I swept my left hand across the hammer. I lined up the shot and pulled the trigger again. The ball took him in the shoulder this time, and he stumbled back into the darkness, letting go of Elena as he did.

  She dropped to the ground in a heap of crashing metal. I took a step forward but immediately had to dive to my right. A burst of fire came roaring out of the tunnel.

  I felt the heat rip through the air. The heavy cloth of my cloak was struck and immediately burst into flames. I pulled firmly. The quick release clasps that kept it in place opened and the scarlet fireball came free. I tossed it away and moved to fire back at the warlock.

  As I looked up, I saw him hovering over my Elena. He belched out a string of Hellion speech and a flash of purple light jumped from his hand and struck her in the chest. She gasped, tried to scream, but simply contorted into a ball on the ground; face pulled into a grimace of pain.

  My eyes went wide. The warlock made to grab the box, but I opened fire. I screamed. I screamed every curse, and vile thing I could think of as I fired, worked the hammer, and fired again.

  Dust and broken bits of stone flew into the air as a cloud of powder smoke erupted from my gun. I ran forward, still screaming. When I came out of the cloud, the warlock was gone. The box was still on the ground, splintered and laying open. I could see the device inside, held firmly by a pair of leather straps. I tossed the Colt and grabbed the golden ball from the box. I tucked it beneath my breastplate, careful not to touch it with my bare skin.

  I went to Elena and dropped to her side. I rolled her to her back. Her eyes were open, wide with terror.

  “Elena!” I shouted.

  I pulled off my gauntlets and grabbed the side of her face, staring deeply into her eyes.

  “Elena!”

  I ducked my head and put my ear to her face. I heard a shallow breath escape from her nostrils.

  “Oh thank God.” I said. “Stay with me.”

  I searched for the clasps on her armor and removed the damaged breastplate. I tossed it away.
The quilted doublet beneath was wet with blood. I pulled a dagger from my boot and cut away the torn fabric. There was a long cut running the length of her stomach. It was mostly shallow except the entry point. Something had punched through her armor and torn deeply into her stomach. Blood was flowing freely.

  I cut away a strip of cloth from her cloak and stuffed it into the wound. I cut free another strip and tied it tightly around her, keeping pressure on the wound.

  I'd seen her recover from similar wounds, and I had healed from far worse injuries. It was the curse that worried me. I checked her skin for any obvious signs of contact with magic. He'd summoned a fireball against me, but I couldn't see any burns on her body. The light had struck her in the chest, but the breastplate was undamaged. I couldn't see anything else.

  I ducked down and put my ear to her bloody chest. Her heartbeat was slow, labored. She was still bleeding from her belly. Once the wound had been bound, her body should have began healing. The Enlightenment should have started the process of knitting her flesh together.

  I pulled her onto my lap and cradled her head.

  “Father.” I whispered. “I need you. Protect her. Heal her. She is a warrior for you. She fights for your holy name. Strike this curse from her body.”

  I pulled her closer, kissing her forehead and feeling the heat radiating from it. Sweat was starting to bead on her skin despite the blood loss and chilled air in the tunnels.

  “Elena.” I whispered.

  I felt a single tear roll down my cheek.

  “Please don't leave me.”

  14

  Driving's difficult when you've had the shit kicked out of you. I'd spent two days getting beat up, clawed at, and bitch slapped by Hellions. My ribs were aching, and my lower back was a mess from where the Ogre had hit me. Breathing was a chore and just sitting in the car was work.