Dennis peered down at the arachnid and grinned with all the warmth one might afford a close friend. “Germaine Fox, how the hell you doing?” The Jersey accent was strong in this one; though Germaine was a spider, the two of them might as well have been brothers for the similarities in speech. “I was wonderin' when you might turn up.” He glanced at the rest of us curiously, taking a long drag. “These, uh... your buddies you were talkin' about?”
“That's right,” said the spider. “And we need to get in there pronto, man. Ran into a bit of trouble, like we expected. I tell you, this whole place is going downhill. What do you say? Can you let us in?”
“Of course.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keyring. Slowly, he unlocked the gate and ordered two of the posted guards to lock up after him. The men walked over stiffly, the armor inhibiting their movements, and secured the gate after we'd all passed through.
Kubo introduced himself to Dennis, offering a handshake that was only weakly returned. “I'm with the Veiled Order, name's Kubo,” he began, “and we're here because Germaine tells us you can get ahold of the Archangel Saber.”
Dennis arched a brow and stopped suddenly, putting out his cigarette on the heel of his shoe. “Hold on... that's what you came lookin' for, Germaine? The frigging Archangel Saber?”
“Obviously. What else? Why, is something the matter?” asked the spider.
“I'll say there's a problem,” replied Dennis. He looked over at the rest of us, waving his hands in the air. “Of all the shit you coulda asked for, I can't let you have that one.”
Kubo glared down at Germaine like he was about to stomp on him. And damn, how I wished he would. “What do you mean you can't let us have it? Why not? Didn't Germaine tell you that we were coming for it?”
Dennis chuckled, shaking his head. His hair was greasy, tightly curled, and he smelled vaguely of deep-fried mozzarella. “Nah, Germaine here called me to say he was cashing in on a favor I owed him. He didn't say nothin' about letting y'all borrow a frigging holy sword. Pretty sure I would have remembered that.”
“What the hell, Germaine?” I said, reaching out and kicking him with the tip of my shoe.
The spider wheeled around, pointing a hairy appendage towards his buddy. “Dennis, you're my go-to guy for this kinda shit. I need you to come through for me with the hookup. We're talkin' life and death here.”
Dennis shook his head. “I can't do it. Strict orders from the owner.”
Kubo grabbed up a fistful of Dennis' shirt. “Who's the owner of the sword? My bosses will buy it from them, no questions asked. No price is too high.”
Dennis whistled, breaking out of Kubo's grasp and brushing himself off. “I'm sure your bosses are flush with cash and all that, mister... uh, Kubo. But money ain't the object. See, the owner of this thing don't care about money. And I know for a fact that he ain't gonna part with it. I guarantee it.”
“Who's the owner?” asked Kanta, stepping forward. She was playing with her braid again, probably considering ways in which she might persuade him through violence.
Dennis sighed, looking down at the spider that stalked around his feet. “You know, that's a breach of customer confidentiality. But I'll give you the name. He's a big guy, goes by the name of Agamemnon.”
I could be wrong, but I think that Kubo started laughing.
Either that, or it was the first time I'd ever seen him cry.
TWENTY-NINE
We spent a lot of time trying to talk some sense into Dennis, but it was all for naught. Aside from lying to us about being able to easily get ahold of the Archangel Saber, Germaine had fibbed a little about his closeness to Dennis. They were old drinking buddies... not exactly BFF's.
“Look,” began Germaine, “we're trying to keep the world from getting overrun with zombies. Get it? And your client, Agamemnon, is the one who's controlling them. Now, he probably bought this sword so that no one else would be able to get ahold of it. Smart move on his part. But he's fixin' to destroy Detroit-- to raise an army of the dead and overrun the Earth. So, we need this sword if we're gonna stop him.”
Frankly, this whole thing was comical. We'd come all the way here, risking our lives in search of a mythical blade, just to get turned away at the last minute. And why was that? Because this dumbass wanted to uphold his contract to the goddamn necromancer. It was the perfect plot-twist, the perfect kick in the balls, considering everything that was at stake. If Agamemnon could see us now, he'd probably laugh till his ribs were sore.
“Can't help ya,” replied Dennis. We were standing in the well-lit courtyard outside the armory. The guards around us remained still as statues at their posts. “Even if I wanted to violate my contract, which I don't, I couldn't help you.”
“Why not?” demanded Kubo.
Dennis nodded towards the monolithic building. “See, I was paid really well for this, but that ain't the sole reason. A stipulation in the contract was that Agamemnon would provide his own insurance on the sword. It's kept in a separate room, and he's got it surrounded by guards of his own. I don't know who he has posted there, but he promised me that to even look at that room would equal a painful, painful death. I haven't been down that stretch since I took on the contract. Not worth the risk. And have you ever met the guy? He's fuckin' intense, man. I believed him. Took him at his word, I did.”
“But he can't even use the sword,” I argued. “He's a necromancer. A sword like that one could kill him. He has no use for it, except to keep it from us. And in case you missed it, we're the good guys. We're trying to save the world. Don't you understand that?”
Dennis shrugged, scratching at his belly. “Sure, sure. And good on ya. But I don't have a dog in that fight. See, there's this little thing called integrity, and not everyone has it. But you know what it would do to my business if I went back on my contract? Nope, can't help you this time, Germaine. If you want to cash in that favor I owe you, I'll take you out to the titty bar like last time, but--”
Kubo socked Dennis in the sternum. The pudgy guy went white in the face and fell flat on his back. Kneeling down on the ground, Kubo dug into Dennis' wide eyes with a gaze that would have made me shrink away. “Listen up. This is how it's going to go. You're going to let us have that sword, or we're going to shove that integrity up your ass till you spend the rest of your life shitting blood. Got it?”
Germaine was a little more delicate. He wandered over, caressing Dennis' cheek gingerly with one of his arms. “I'm sorry, bud, but I have to agree with Kubo over there. You're being unreasonable. Let us have the sword; we won't tell a soul you let us have it. It's important, though.”
Dennis slowly sat up, clutching at his chest and coughing. “N-nah... you messed up this time, Germaine. I ain't... I ain't gonna let you pull one over on me like this.”
“Sorry to hear that,” said Kubo, pulling Dennis up by his collar. “Looks like we'll be taking what we came for.”
I have to say, I really liked this new, thuggish Kubo. This Kubo got shit done.
Dennis smirked, then winced as his chest ached afresh. “Oh, I wouldn't do that. You might get in there, but aside from the guards Agamemnon's posted, you'll have to deal with my security. I'll have you all rounded up by the time you even get close to the sword.”
Kubo shoved Dennis into Joe's waiting arms. “That's a chance we're going to take, then,” said the Chief. “Germaine, Lucy, you're coming with me.” He turned to Kanta. “You, Joe and Percy keep our buddy Dennis busy. If he gives you trouble, you have my permission to kill him.”
Dennis' bowels audibly loosened as Kanta pulled out a strand of hair and held the tips of the gleaming trident against his throat. “Sure thing, Chief.”
With that, Kubo led me and the spider up to the door of the armory. The door was massive, a good twenty feet high, and could only be reached by way of a tall set of stone stairs. And, of course, it was locked. “Shit, should we go back and get the keys from Dennis?” I asked.
Then we hit the deck.
An explosion rocked the armory, and a shower of stone and debris rained down on us. When I chanced to look up, my eyes watering for the dust that filled the air, I saw the gaping hole in the stone door. “Shit, Chief. That's a hell of a spell.” For the damage it'd done, Kubo might as well have strapped a stick of TNT to the door.
Kubo wasted no time. He dragged me to my feet and led me into the armory by the arm. Inside, I could already hear the resonant footfalls of goons in plate armor scrambling to find the source of the explosion.
Behind us, the guards posted near the gates sprang into action.
And I do mean sprang.
Since our arrival, I'd only seen those dudes in knight's armor shuffle around the grounds. When we threatened Dennis they hadn't so much as flinched. But explosions, apparently, were something they reacted to. They'd seemed slow, clunky, totally inefficient to me up to that point. Now the armored figures jumped into action and began sprinting towards Percy, Kanta and Joe with incredible speed, weapons poised for attack.
Inside the armory there were more of them, and we weren't a step or two into the place before they descended on us from every direction.
I hoped the others would be able to hold off the guards outside while the Chief and I busied ourselves looking for the Archangel Saber. I sucked in a deep breath and got ready to cross fists with the incoming knights.
“Keep your wits about ya, kid,” warned Germaine, taking cover inside my shirt. “These things are out to kill.”
Fists balled, I grinned. “Hold on, then. It's going to be one hell of a ride.”
THIRTY
I cut Gadreel's leash.
The demon surged to the foreground, meeting the first of several guards with a steady flurry. A straight right, a left jab and then a heel stomp left the suit of armor riddled with dents.
And mere suits of armor these things appeared to be.
I popped the helmet off of the next one, crunching it like a pop can, and found nothing underneath.
“They're enchanted,” explained Kubo, staying back and looking for the right seal for the situation. “If they're sufficiently damaged they'll shut down, like machines, but until then they're relentless. Blowing them to pieces is our best bet. Trouble is, I only packed a few of those seals you saw earlier, and we don't know what lays ahead.” He plucked one paper seal from the stack and held it between two fingers. “Let's try a different approach. I need you to pick me up, and when I say 'jump', you jump. Got that? I've got a spell here that's going to turn the floor into lava.”
“Like the game you play as a kid? Where you throw pillows on the floor and try not to touch the carpet?” I asked.
“No,” replied Kubo, glowering. “I mean real lava, you idiot.”
A suit of armor rushed towards me, wielding a battleaxe. These weapons, thankfully, were made of plain old steel. Had they been silver, I might've been in trouble. Parrying the crushing weight of the axe with my forearms, my skin was torn open, but the weapon failed at cleaving my arms off. I drop-kicked the suit in the legs and watched as it fell to pieces at my feet. “Whatever you say, Chief. Sooner we get out of here, the better.”
Germaine shrieked, peeking at my rear. “Look out!”
I turned just in time to catch a sword in the eye.
One of the suits had managed to get the jump on me, and it thrust a longsword through my head, spearing my right eye and pinning my body to the wall. I hadn't been fast enough to stop it, and the attack literally blew my mind.
OK, you're right, it's a shitty time for jokes.
My body went slack for a second there, but in the next I was punching the suit's arms apart. Slowly I yanked the sword out of my skull and crumpled to the floor, loads of blood and brain matter streaming from the enormous wound. A mere human being would have been done for after a hit like that one. Even though I was going to live, I tell you it hurt like a bitch. Getting the inside of my head probed with a razor-sharp blade wasn't really bucket list material.
The lava spell was put on the back-burner. Kubo crouched beside me, firing a few bullets at the remaining suits while I struggled to recover. I don't know why he thought that might be effective. The bullets didn't even penetrate. From behind me, I heard Germaine trying not to throw up. The spider was retching in my half-severed ear, and it was pissing me off. “G-glad you're OK, kid. But maybe next time try and dodge, eh? N-no one wants to see that shit.”
I glared over my shoulder at him, my face slowly mending. Bone, muscle and skin alike began a slow crawl, frayed ends reaching out to one another till every level was fortified. “Thanks for your concern,” I said when I could finally speak.
Kubo was in trouble. Two of the metallic bastards were taking turns slashing at him. One of them had a longsword, the other a frigging hammer. The tireless suits were incredibly fast, playing a game of whack-a-mole with the Chief. Kubo just barely evaded each time, but his movements were getting slower as he grew more exhausted. These things were relentless.
I managed to dispatch one of them with a kick, but didn't get to the other in time. Kubo was forced to do a log roll to avoid a jab from the longsword. With a grunt, I reached down and picked up the hammer the other one had dropped, raising it over my head and swinging with everything I had. Shit, the thing was heavy even to me. These enchantments had serious muscle.
The suit of armor crumbled away beneath the might of the hammer, and for the first time since our entrance, there was silence.
“Eat your heart out, son of Odin,” I said, wielding the hammer in one hand.
Germaine clicked his tongue. “Nah, haven't you seen the movies? If that were really Thor's hammer, you wouldn't be able to wield it.”
I hesitated. “D-do you mean that... that Thor is actually, like, real? The Norse god?”
“Oh, yeah,” replied Germaine with altogether too much casualness. “Believe it or not, those movies are pretty much documentaries.”
Meanwhile, Kubo wasn't looking so hot. He rose to his feet, clutching one of his elbows. Even beneath the suit, I could tell that he was seriously injured. “Elbow is broken,” he said through grit teeth. “The one with the hammer clipped me.”
Shit. Kubo was pretty much down for the count. He gripped his seals and peered out the door, where Kanta, Percy and Joe were still locked in battle with the other guards. “What're we going to do, Chief? If there's something waiting for us in that room where the sword is at, then you won't be able to take it on. Not with a busted arm.”
He nodded. “I'm going to stand back, help them out from a distance,” he said, motioning to the group in the courtyard. “You go on and find the sword. Take Joe with you. The two of you make a good team, and I think you'll be able to handle whatever comes your way. Germaine will stay with you so that you can identify the sword when you find it.”
My eyes went wide. “Y-you want me to bring Joe?” I gulped. That didn't sound like such a bad idea to me, and it was true that the two of us made a strong team, but I didn't think Joe was going to be up for it.
Kubo staggered out of the armory and whistled. “Joe, get in here.”
Joe was hanging back, near Dennis, while the other two struggled to beat back the remaining suits. Their weapons weren't well-suited to destroying thick armor. Kanta was pounding away on the things, but they still kept coming.
“Joe!” called Kubo, waving him towards the makeshift entrance in the armory door.
Joe finally broke away from the group, rushing in to meet us.
The Chief stepped out into the courtyard and gave us his orders. “I'm tagging out,” he said, cradling his busted arm. “You and Lucy go find the sword with Germaine. I'll support the other two out here. Hurry up, got it? And work together.”
&nb
sp; Joe looked at the two of us in turn, the reticence in his gaze clearly telegraphed. “S-sure, Chief,” he replied.
“Well, don't act so excited about it,” I added, tugging him into the armory and leaving Kubo behind. “And don't get yourself killed, Chief. This fight is only just getting started,” I reminded him.
Kubo turned to the courtyard, using his teeth to pick out the seals he wanted from the stack in his fist. Nope, the Chief wasn't planning on checking out. Not yet.
Joe and I pushed through the armory. Up to this point, I hadn't actually gotten a good look at the place. I'd been too busy hacking apart enchanted suits of armor to admire my surroundings. But as I took a moment to look around, I saw that there was, as I'd expected, a good deal to admire.
The place was more or less a museum. Hundreds of glass cases lined what proved to be an immense showroom. This place was known to house mythical weapons of great rarity, and the art history buff in me salivated at the thought of exploring the whole place. Shame we'd gone and roughed up Dennis; I'd have really loved an in-depth tour of the joint.
I walked quickly between the rows of cases. In one, there was an ancient-looking bow and arrow, totally wooden. It didn't look remarkable, but was probably worth loads if it was being kept here. Further on was a huge sword, whose placard read Sword of Beowulf. “Are you kidding me right now?” I was giddy as a schoolgirl. “This place is full of awesome shit! Why didn't you tell me that they had all of these artifacts? It's a collector's paradise!”
Germaine reached over and smacked me in the cheek with one of his legs. “Because we ain't here to sightsee, you asshole. Get moving! We've gotta find that sword!”
Joe and I looked around the enormous showroom, from the countless cases spread out before us, to the large, domed ceiling overhead. “W-where, exactly, do we need to look?” asked Joe. “We could search for an hour and never find it in this room.”
Glancing this way and that, Germaine urged us onward. “It ain't gonna be here. If Agamemnon wants it hidden, then it's probably not gonna be housed with the main collection. Dennis said the sword is in its own room. I know there are other chambers in this place. Let's look for them.”
Roaring Blood (Demon-Hearted Book 2) Page 20