by Arjay Lewis
“Right here in Central Park,” Frisha bubbled. “It was shortsighted of Greywacke to not know the end of the world would begin at his greatest creation.”
Frisha walked toward Eddie, her staff at the ready. “You cannot imagine the change this is for me. I lived for centuries under the thumb of others—Greywacke, the coven, the Five. Once I was beautiful and honored. For the last few centuries I ha’e been humored and ignored. When I saw that glimpse of my possible future, I sought it. See how I made it true. I found out about the Smoking Mirror and arranged for it to be shipped to the museum. That was the wisest part of my plan.”
“Riftstone died so you could release its power,” Eddie said.
Frisha smiled “So, ye do begin to understand.”
“I understand you betrayed Trefoil,” Eddie accused.
“Betrayed—a mere word. Trefoil was a means to an end. I shall rebuild the world under my rule.”
“And I am to be worshipped!” Abraxas stood behind Frisha and glared at Eddie. “Tonight it shall all change.”
“Aye!” Frisha exulted. “This night, which has been foretold since the dawn of time and in every culture, will usher in a new era.” She turned to Abraxas. “The time grows near. Start the fire in the idol.”
“You cannot kill that child,” Eddie stood up.
Abraxas looked over in disbelief.
“She will not wake before the fire consumes her,” Frisha pronounced, and nodded to Abraxas, who walked behind the metal statue. A flame burst from his extended first finger. He touched it to a pile of wood at the base of the statue.
“You can’t,” Eddie declared.
“Why not?” Frisha quizzed.
“It’s…it’s wrong,” Eddie stammered.
Abraxas and Frisha looked at each other for a moment, then both laughed.
“If you need a sacrifice, take me,” Eddie offered. “I’m a wizard, I’m what both of you really hate. Sacrifice me.”
They both stopped laughing, and looked at Eddie intently.
“If we burnt his staff along with him,” Abraxas spoke in a low voice. “Then two of the Five would be no more.”
Frisha frowned at Eddie. “Nay, nay, it is not what I have seen.”
Another shudder ran through the room, more violent than the last. With one quick jerk, the fifth seal cracked, broke loose and plunged to the floor in pieces.
Eddie stared at the fallen seal on the floor.
What is happening up above right now? he wondered.
Sixty
“Form a perimeter,” Wilcox shouted to his men, who pulled close and held on to their weapons.
“This is definitely not good,” Luis gazed up at the skeletal shape astride the horse that blew fire from its nostrils. The black hooded figure carried a large scythe and swooped down at the group of FBI agents to wave it just over their heads.
“Stay low,” Wilcox yelled and fired his handgun at the horse and rider.
The weapon made three loud cracks and three small round bullet holes appeared on the horse’s flank. It gave a whinny, exhaled fire, and flew back up into the sky, the wounds disappearing as it went.
“Those things can’t be hurt,” Collins yelled to Wilcox.
“Look at the moon,” a man cried out, and Luis, Sam, Collins and Wilcox all turned their heads to see the moon impossibly large and blood red.
“Men,” Wilcox fought to control the panic he felt rise in his voice, “we must stay calm and close. I’m sure there is a way to—”
“What’s that?” another man hollered and pointed at the huge open crater as it spat fire on what was once the Great Lawn. Smoke was everywhere, and it rolled like fog around them.
Something moved in the mist.
Small figures, hard to discern, climbed out of the pit and walked upright on the ground.
“What is that?” Collins gasped.
“Looks like kids,” Sam frowned.
“Keep your guard up,” Wilcox ordered in a low voice.
One of the figures made its way through the veil toward them.
“Not like any kid I ever had,” Luis said suspiciously.
The approaching creature was the size of an eight-year-old. But it was red, bald, and carried little horns on its head and a pointed tail behind.
“What the—” Wilcox emoted.
The small devil’s mouth twisted into an impossibly large smile. It ran to one of the men and yanked a small grenade off his vest in one quick grab.
“Stun grenade!” Wilcox howled and the group fell to the ground as one man, their hands over their heads.
The devil took a few steps back to examine his prize.
There was a sudden “wham” as the explosive charge went off in the creature’s open hand. The air was filled with a plume of powder, and several of the FBI agents made expressions of pain from the close vicinity to the weapon.
The little hellish thing, however, was unhurt, only surprised. It gave its head a shake, then smiled and danced gleefully.
“Damn!” Luis found his fall to the ground difficult with his arms strapped behind his back. “The little sucker liked it.”
It shouted something in a language the men had never heard, as hundreds of shadowy shapes, fresh from the pit, began to swarm toward the federal men.
“Sir,” Collins watched the approaching creatures through the sulfurous haze, “we may have a problem.”
“You’re right. Men, split up!” Wilcox instructed. “You have complete freedom to defend yourselves.”
The men began to move off quickly to the right and left, and faded into the mist.
“What about me?” Luis objected.
Wilcox looked at Luis square in the eye. “Good luck.”
Then, he ran off.
“Hey, at least take the restraints off my hands,” Luis shrieked after him, but found he was alone. “Hey!”
Alone in the sense that he no longer had any human companionship. Most of the devils faded in the murk after the agents, but a band of ten advanced upon Luis.
“I’m enjoying this less and less,” Luis decided, as they drew nearer.
The lead beastie lunged forward and twisted his maw to expose pointed teeth, issuing a low and throaty growl.
“Is that all you got?” Luis said, unperturbed. “You ain’t nothing.” Luis opened his mouth wide and gave a bloodcurdling animal snarl. “ARRRRRRRR!”
The creatures backed up at this, not used to being on the receiving end of such an outburst. With a quick glance to one another, they decided the large man was too much trouble and ran off.
“Learned that from my mother-in-law,” Luis warned the scurrying demons. “She’s scarier than you little shits.”
“By Zoroaster!” a voice said behind him.
Luis turned suddenly, and there stood Bankrock. The little man wore his wizard robes and carried a staff as he stared dumbfounded at the open pit.
“I believe this is a serious breach in the Magickal Containment Act,” Bankrock announced.
Luis noticed that behind Bankrock were three other wizards. “Where the hell you guys been?”
“I sought reinforcements,” Bankrock explained. “It was difficult; most had left town.”
“Glad you could get here for the fireworks,” Luis turned his large body to show his bound hands. “Get these off, will ya?”
His gaze still fixed on the pit, Bankrock made the slightest movement with his staff, and the restraints dropped off Luis’s hands.
Luis rubbed his wrists and looked up to see the skeleton on horseback swoop down out of the sky again.
“Hey,” one of the wizards with a thick Brooklyn accent said. “Ain’t that Death? I ain’t seen him since the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.”
“Maybe you should say hello,” Luis suggested snidely, as his temper flared. “Now will you guys do something?”
“What would you suggest we do?” Bankrock’s eyes remained on the pit.
“I thought this was the stuff you guys handle!”
Suddenly, the ground shook again and the group glanced up to the sky and peered at the fog to see what happened.
All was silent.
“Guess it’s okay this time,” Luis faced the stone steps that led to Obelisk Terrace. “Now, let’s get up there and help.”
Bankrock pulled his gaze from the pit and turned to the others. “Let us see how we can be of assistance, my friends.”
The group of wizards quickly climbed the steps, and immediately disappeared into the mist.
Luis shook his head. “All-powerful wizards, and they need a sergeant to tell them what to do."
The dirt near his feet shifted a little.
He leaned forward to see what caused it.
A hand shot up out of the ground.
With a yell, Luis jumped back and up several steps.
The skin on the hand was greenish, and white bone could be seen protruding in places. The fingernails were filthy and decrepit. There was another shake and the arm pulled free from the soil. It was covered in old and decayed clothing that may have once been a suit.
Another arm came out, and then a head. The hair was gone, as were the eyes, but there was still skin on the animated corpse’s face as it pulled itself free of the soil. The body struggled up and out of the ground that had held it for eons.
“Jeez,” Luis grimaced. “People are buried here?” He pulled himself up another step. “Where did those wizards go? Yo, Bankrock!”
The walking dead turned to face Luis with its eyeless sockets. It opened its mouth in a soundless wail as it took a step up the stairs toward Luis.
“Man, you are the last thing I need today,” Luis said, as he fought the desire to panic, run, or vomit. He leaned back as the cadaver stumbled up the stairs toward him, then lifted one large foot to the boney chest and gave a strong push.
The already unstable carcass cascaded down the steps just as one of the little devils passed by. It collapsed on the short fiend, and the dead man’s head popped off and rolled away.
The devil cursed in its strange language, pushed the remains off himself, shook his little fist at Luis and ran away.
The cadaver, unencumbered by the loss of its head, rose to its rotten feet and staggered off in a different direction.
Luis exhaled a long sigh and looked over his shoulder at the huge, glowing red obelisk. He muttered under his breath, “Eddie, I hope you are doing something about this.”
He started up the stairs.
Sixty-One
Five seals were off that door, and if it opened, Eddie knew it would be very bad for the entire human race.
He regretted his police training never prepared him for such a situation.
There had to be something to give him an edge over his adversaries, as they both watched the metal statue with a look of pleasure in their eyes. If Eddie didn’t do something soon, Rosita would be roasted alive.
His hand brushed the Hat of Remembrance in his belt.
Suddenly Eddie thought of Frisha’s fight with Caleb, how easily she avoided his attacks. The only time she looked surprised was when Eddie tackled Ahbay and almost bowled her over.
He felt the glimmer of an idea.
He pulled out the hat and put it on his head.
“What are you doing?” Frisha demanded, her attention returned to Eddie. “What is that?”
It instantly was clear to Eddie. He could remember every detail about the last week, and how time and again Frisha predicted things about him that had been wrong. He surprised her in little ways again and again. She was the one behind the attacks against him, and all of them failed!
“What’s the matter, Frisha? Don’t you know what this hat is? Can’t you see it? You didn’t see me here in the temple, did you?” Eddie taunted.
Frisha raised her staff. “I have the power to strike you down where you stand.”
Eddie smiled and took a step forward, able to recollect each nuance. “Like the elevator. You suggested I use it, and then you were surprised I wasn’t killed. And all those warnings, not one of them came true. You can’t preordain what I’m going to do.”
“Yes, I can. I am a seer, and I can prove it!” she raised her free hand and bellowed, “Come to me, my dear.”
From the stone archway, Cerise entered, her eyes transfixed dreamily on Frisha.
“Damn,” Eddie cursed as his wife drew nearer.
“I knew she is thy wife, that proves my divination.”
Eddie shook his head and gave a derisive laugh.
He could easily recall every detail of every moment of the last week. He could recall a cloaked and hooded figure in a tree at his house.
“That wasn’t fortune-telling. You were at my house,” Eddie boasted. “I got you figured out. You can’t see what’s happenin’ with me. That’s why Riftstone’s staff summoned me. Ever since, you’ve tried to remove me, kill me, or scare me, but I keep surprising you.”
“You speak lies!” Frisha bellowed.
Eddie feinted to his right and at the last moment dove to his left. A blast came from Frisha’s staff, right to the place where Eddie feinted, which missed him completely.
He pushed over the bench, held out his hand, and his staff flew into it.
“That’s why you told me to use the elevator,” Eddie ducked behind the marble. “You didn’t know if I would choose it or not. You had to guide me.”
A flash of light struck the carved stone he hid behind, and there was a cracking sound.
Eddie leapt up and raised his staff.
Frisha pulled out the black mirror in her left hand as she held up her staff with the right.
“Surrender thy staff, or I shall kill thy woman,” Frisha pointed her staff toward the mesmerized Cerise, who stood immobile, a puppet under Frisha’s control. “You are no threat to me, the mirror has taken most of thy power. Thou hast not the strength to defeat me.”
“I may not have the power to stop you—” Eddie shifted his staff and fired a faint red beam at Cerise.
“Ow!” Cerise said, her spell broken. She rubbed her head and looked at her bizarre surroundings. “Now where am I?”
Eddie yelled. “10-33!”
Eddie had yelled the NYPD code for an explosive device. Years earlier, when they were dating, Cerise had drilled Eddie on all the codes as he prepared for his exams. She had memorized them better than her not-yet husband. He prayed she still remembered.
Cerise ducked, and at the same time smashed her elbow into the hefty Frisha, who gave an “Oof” sound. Cerise dove for cover without hesitation, and was quickly under one of the stone benches.
“We must commence the sacrifice!” Abraxas bellowed to Frisha. “There are still two seals!”
“I must say the words. Make yourself useful and kill them!” Frisha pointed at Cerise, who rapidly crawled away. “Her first!”
Eddie jumped up and dodged, as Frisha shot another bolt of lightning at him. Abraxas headed straight in the direction of Cerise as she progressed on all fours toward Eddie.
The demon’s anatomy began to undulate and change, his chest bent over as his hands became hooves, and the red fur on his legs spread to cover his entire body.
A giant ram stood only fifteen feet away with the same massive horns as the demon.
Cerise reached Eddie, and he crouched beside her as best he could with his damaged leg.
“What is this place?” Cerise grabbed Eddie’s arm. “How did I get here this time?”
“Later, honey,” Eddie apologized, “stay down.”
The giant red ram charged. It bore down on them, huge horns aimed. Eddie was weak, and afraid that if he shot a beam of light, it wouldn’t have enough kick to stop the charging ram.
Think outside the box, ran through his mind. How else can my staff be used?
“Can you do something!” Cerise shouted.
The hat Eddie wore gave him access to every memory he’d ever possessed. A physics lesson from high school flashed through his mind.
“Yes
, I can!” Eddie rose and quickly turned the stick in his hand. As the ram drew near, he swung it by the bottom in a huge arc with all his might, and aimed at the gnarled spot between the monster’s horns.
Wham!!
There was a cracking noise as the fierce-looking horns broke and the giant creature’s head whipped down to strike the ground. The dazed creature slid onto the bench the Bermans had been behind.
“That not be how a wizard fights!” Frisha shouted.
“Damn straight,” Eddie said, as an idea began to form. It was amazing how the hat made his mind so clear.
Frisha let go of her staff, leaned it against her body. She held the mirror aloft with both hands.
No matter what I hit her with, that mirror will absorb it, Eddie thought.
She stood with the mirror outstretched and began to mutter words in the strange language Marlowe used.
Eddie stepped back, as the ram rose unsteadily, stumbled and fell into the reflecting pool with a huge splash. The water churned and there was a gurgling sound.
“Eddie!” Cerise pointed as a large, winged cat leapt from the fountain and soared up the large center opening of the temple. “What is it?”
“I dunno! A red lion. But it’s got…wings!”
Eddie could see a fiery-red mane and huge fangs as the beast flew with what looked like eagle wings, even though each feather was scarlet.
The airborne jungle cat reached the pinnacle of the pyramid-shaped structure, turned magnificently, then dove for Eddie and Cerise.
Eddie didn’t have the raw power to take the creature out. Instead, he focused on a small place he could attack.
“Isa Ya!” Eddie yelled. He felt the energy come up from his toes and shoot out at the dive-bombing creature. The light struck it with a flash, and its wings popped off like cheap toys.
The lion’s face registered surprise, and it dropped through the air to splash heavily once again into the pool, which sprayed a wave of water over the mirror-holding Frisha.
“No, no!” the old woman bellowed as water crashed down on her and struck the metal statue, raining down on little Rosita, who stirred, but stayed asleep.
The fire in the back of the statue was cooled by the spray of water, but continued to burn.