Right now the Demon was more interested in devouring Sam than in devouring the Ford. Destroying life itself was a much higher priority than was destroying the things made by life: the Demon sensed Sam's powerful Life Energies and wanted to destroy them. Worse, its instincts told it that Sam was sentient. There was nothing more hated by Demons than sentient life.
This Demon was much quicker than Sam expected; it nearly impaled him with its darting beak before the Attack Wizard could bring his longsword down on its long, swaying neck with a loud crash and flash of power. To the consternation of everyone except the he monster, Sam's tremendous blow cut only half-way through the neck and didn't even slow the monster down. Thick red Evil gunk bled out from the gash for a few moments before congealing into rock-hard black scale that filled the wound. The monster had in less than half a minute already healed itself!
The Army Ranger with the team pulled the pin from a grenade and bravely popped it into the creature's snapping mouth. Two seconds later it exploded, blowing the head into dozens of pieces that scattered around the grassy green yard where the battle was occurring.
Alan Dale and three more Wizards of the team quickly found the scattered Evil bits of Demon where they corrupted patches of grass and destroyed them using the anti-Evil spells learned from the elves. In the meantime the decapitated Demon single-mindedly pursued Sam while it sprouted a new head.
"THAT SORT OF WORKED," said Eric, from where he stood not far away, observing and coordinating three of the teams. "BUT IT'S DANGEROUS AND TOO SLOW; WE'D HAVE TO BLOW OFF DOZENS OF HEADS TO GRADUALLY DESTROY THE WHOLE DEMON. IT MIGHT WORK BETTER WITH DEMONS WITH BIGGER HEADS."
Sam's team next managed to blow in half one of the legs of the Demon, though it took three more grenades to do it. That greatly slowed the Demon, and the separated leg segment was carried off for destruction by a second team. Despite lightning blasts from the Demon Sam managed to slice off additional sizable chunks of Demon which were then isolated for destruction. Mostly he sliced off reforming limbs before they could fully solidify. Piece by piece the Demon was dismantled. Sam and the other participating teams cheered in celebration when the last piece of it was finally destroyed.
"OK, we have a successful tactic to use against single isolated Demons of certain types," said Sam, but he wasn't smiling. "But it took the combined efforts of two dozen of us over twenty minutes of dangerous struggle to destroy one ordinary Demon. There are hundreds of Demons! Even now I can see several more Demons getting too close for comfort!"
"They're headed straight for us!" said Eric. "They must have somehow sensed that the one we were fighting had encountered potential victims! We'll have to pull back now!"
"And continue to work on tactics," added Sam.
"We need more Wizards!" said Alan Dale. "Much as I hate to leave this fun-filled exercise I need to teleport to unaligned places to get more support for Hope. Messages via my amulet have not been enough; I need to do this personally."
"Understood," said Eric, as he reached out to firmly shake Alan's hand. Then with a pop the Unaligned Wizard disappeared.
****
Inside the Mansion the Master Demon focused on the latest rift to the Void he had coaxed into temporary existence and brought tons more Evil to Earth. He had already brought over from the Void more than three thousand Demons and needed more Evil to support them. There was a balance to be kept; there had to be enough Evil to power the Demons that now roamed the Earth killing and destroying! In particular when they encountered Life Forces to be overcome, Evil was consumed. In addition Evil was unstable in any stable universe such as this one, especially when small quantities of it encountered Life Energy. He would need tons more Evil to sustain the Demon apocalypse he had started.
There was literally infinite Evil in the Void, but fetching it in useful quantities took substantial time and energy. Soon he would have to start establishing Evil deposits throughout the State, then throughout the Country and finally world-wide. He would of course make use of humans and human technology to help him do that. He would perhaps disguise himself as human and travel about with suitcases of Evil, and he could mail boxes of Evil to every major city of the world. Those would attract Horde Demons that would destroy all life and all artifacts suggesting life.
But Earth was a big place with billions of humans and thousands of big cities and millions of towns. Managing the needed devastation all by himself would be almost impossible, or at least take much too long. Some of the work he could pay unsuspecting humans to do, but much of it required Demon powers, smart Demons that could disguise themselves, follow his orders obediently, and open rifts to the Void to bring more Evil and more Horde Demons.
Unbelievably, his one remaining intelligent apprentice had been destroyed, and his Horde Demons were too impossibly stupid to be any help except when it came to causing mindless destruction. With the Master Demon occupied obtaining more Demons and Evil. The Horde Demons devouring Hope were essentially leaderless and mindless. Though they were destroying Hope, they were taking long hours to do it! Idiots! In the meantime the Wizards were getting away!
He desperately needed new Apprentice Demons: smart ones. The fastest way to get a smart Demon was for the Demon to absorb an elf. Elves made excellent templates to form smart Demons. That's what he did himself over an Earth century ago. Absorbing other life-forms simply wasn't as effective. Here on Earth there were only two elves: Soone and Rog. Soone was of course the best choice, but he would also use Rog.
He would have to capture Soone and Rog himself. Most Horde Demons would mindlessly destroy them, not absorb them. He would have to make sure that the delicate process of absorbing them was properly done. Perhaps he could even manage to destroy other enemies while he was at it, such as the King brat.
But first he had to speed up the attack on Hope. Taking advantage of his elf heritage, he managed what no other Demon had done before: he influenced Horde Demon instinct by heightening their preference towards attacking living things over destroying nonliving artifacts produced by the living. He also teleported a few small Demons ahead of the others, to the edge of town and beyond. When these 'scouts' caught up with fleeing humans their excitement would be sensed by the others and they would all stampede ahead to catch the humans. Finally, he rampaged through the Demons that were gathered near the Mansion, basking in the energy from the Evil that was concentrated there. Most of them fled; those that didn't he tore apart and consumed for himself.
Then he set off to find the two elves that were already on Earth. He didn't have much time. With the elves regrouping on Alure, he needed to establish so much Evil and so many Demons on Earth that not all the elves of Alure would be able to stop them. He needed elves as templates to develop intelligent apprentices, but only a few hundred of them. That many would doubtlessly soon be sent from Alure to save Earth. They would be too late. With a new apprentice or two he would become unstoppable. He would then use whatever elves were sent to save Earth build an army of subservient Apprentice Demons. Then he and his Horde would return to Alure to destroy all remaining elves. The elf Balance Wards, already weakened, would be gone, and Demons would destroy all life in this Galaxy, and then throughout the entire universe.
****
Ben King and the Apprentice Wizards that accompanied him were disappointed not to be on the front-lines, fighting Demons and Evil. Instead they formed a thin protective line along the left, rear, and right flanks of the three-thousand person group of Hope citizens that was fleeing on foot towards the East and hopefully towards buses that awaited them outside the fence that ringed the town.
At least Mark and Rick were in this Apprentice Wizard group with him, and Soone and Ann walked together nearby, frequently accompanied by Maude Philips and Elizabeth. The Wolf and Amanda also helped lead the group. Ben was not alone; he was with the people that he most cared about.
When they stopped occasionally to rest Soone repeatedly studied the link between Ben and Ann, attempting to solve the puzzle
of both the link between them and the spell that hampered it. At times he felt he was making progress, but there always seemed to something missing. Maybe it was true that the presence of Wild Magic was necessary to trigger Ben's memory and solve the puzzle.
Helicopters had already reduced their ranks by a thousand, and another Army helicopter carrying forty civilians was taking off every ten minutes. Wizards were also teleporting and flying people out by the dozens. Elizabeth, who led the East Group and had gotten reports of similar success from smaller West and South groups, was feeling optimistic about the retreat. Oldsters, infants, and toddlers were already safely out of town.
Then Moco, who had been scouting to their rear, caught up with her and changed from full wolf to wolf-man form so that he could tell his bad news.
"The Demons are catching up with all three retreating groups," he reported, between deep breaths. I've had wolves luring Demons astray when they get close to any group, but that's not working as well anymore. I suspect that they are being driven away from the Mansion area by the Master Demon.
Elizabeth sent telepathic warnings to Sharp, who led the South Group, and to Kroner, who led the West Group.
"That makes sense," said Soone. "The Devon Master might be aware that we are escaping his reach. He is by now likely understanding that simply turning loose his Horde in Hope was not bringing speedy enough destruction of Earth life to please him. Horde Demons are simply too stupid to effectively fight a war on their own."
"They're still much too effective for my liking," said Lieutenant Barns. "We've been learning how to fight them, yes, but they are also learning. The Colonel reports that the Demons are no longer stopping to destroy inanimate objects such as houses, they are instead focusing only on biological life-forms."
"Yes," said Moco. "I have observed that myself. They still stop to destroy trees, but are ignoring streets, houses, and other human-made things."
"Homeowners not covered by property insurance for Demon apocalypse damage will perhaps be thrilled, but it doesn't sound good for us," said Elizabeth.
"We still have close to a mile to go," said Maude. "Are we going to make it?"
Almost in answer to her question, a goat-sized Demon that looked vaguely like a long-legged crab launched itself off the roof of a house they were walking past and landed atop a young werewolf child. Elizabeth and Maude blasted it with no effect, and bystanders who tried to physically strike or pull the monster off the hapless girl suffered horrible burns from simply attempting to grab it. Finally Moco grasped it in his big clawed hands and with a mighty heave tossed it a hundred yards away from the victim, where a dozen Wizards soon vengefully chopped it to bits and annihilated it with elf anti-Evil spells. But rescue came too late for twelve-year old Mary Ritz, who had been mutilated and killed in moments.
Though distraught, Rick and some of the Apprentices participated. Because they hadn't detected the Demon they felt responsible for the death of their fellow-Junior Apprentice, but at least they proficiently destroyed the last bits of the monster that had killed her.
When it was over Moco's third-degree hand-burns had already begun to visibly heal but there was nothing left of Mary but a bloody mass of flesh that reminded some on-lookers of disgusting highway road-kill. The entire horrified group of fleeing Hope residents were shocked and brought to tears and shouts of rage.
"We're far from the advancing line of Demons!" said Barns. "Where did that Demon come from?"
"Somehow that one leap-frogged ahead of the others!" said Maude. "How?"
"The Master Demon likely teleported it," said Soone. "Spread the word that there are likely others!"
"Wolves will scout about the advancing refugee groups and not just to their rear," said Moco. "But East, West, and South Groups all need to move faster!"
No urging was needed; word spread through telepathy and Army radios, and all the groups picked up their paces but increased their alertness with regard to randomly placed Demons.
****
At their next short rest-stop Rick Hortega had a surprise for Ben, as they stood gathered under a big shade-providing oak tree with Soone and Ann, with the intent of again trying to break through his power paralysis. "There's Evil in that bag you're handing to me!" Ben said in surprise. "Just a golf ball-sized piece, but still dangerous. You shouldn't be carrying it around."
"I saved a piece from that crab-Demon that killed Mary," said Rick. "Mark told me that it might help you figure out how to do your magic. If that works out maybe Mary didn't die for nothing."
"Well done, young Wizard!" said Soone.
Ben shook his head in wonder as he grasped the bag, and gave Rick an affectionate pat on the back. Rick never ceased to amaze his friends. It was hard for Ben to believe he was only six years old, the same age he had been when his parents were murdered and Soone became his first foster-parent. But despite his powers Rick was still a six-year old boy. He was glad when Maude made the effort to give Rick a warm hug.
Ben, Soone, and Ann sat down in the shaded patch of rich green grass. They were in the outskirts of Hope now, and there were more patches of woods than patches of grass that formed most yards. This grass was particularly green, thick, and healthy; perhaps the residents of the small home it surrounded used magic spells to help it thrive. Ben couldn't help wondering if Demons would destroy this grass soon, as well as the great tree that majestically towered above it. The monsters would want to eventually totally destroy the house and kill trees, bushes, grass, weeds, topsoil, and everything else around it. In time, they would kill everything in the world. Then everything in the Galaxy and beyond. But Ben knew that he had to avoid such thoughts and focus on here and now in order to prevent such a future from happening.
"Perhaps you should join in our attempts to help Ben find himself," Soone told Rick, as the boy stood nearby with Maude. "In learning and discovering magic natural talent is more important than experience. The fact that your greatest talent lies in the area of collaborative magic could provide insight into what we are trying to do."
"An excellent plan, elf Wizard," agreed Maude as she guided Rick closer to the cloistered trio.
Maude guided Rick to sit in back of and between Ben and Soone and rest his small hands lightly on their shoulders. The contrast between the teenager and the elf magically was amazing, young Rick immediately sensed. Of Ben he initially sensed nothing. Less than nothing actually, as Rick sensed only empty space where Ben sat. By choice the Gaou was open to him, and was far more complex than anyone he had ever encountered, with layer upon layer of living spells linked and bound together by massive amounts of Life Energy, all harmoniously formed in an exquisitely complex matrix. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever encountered in his short life!
What did it all mean? Rick had only vague dream-like notions, but those included glimpses of astonishing plants and wondrous creatures, and astronomical nebulas and planet upon planet filled with life: flying creatures, swimming creatures, running creatures, billions of them! Rick was mesmerized!
"WONDROUS AND BEAUTIFUL BEYOND IMAGINATION, ISN'T IT, YOUNG MAN!" Soone told Rick. "YOU GLIMPSE ALL THAT I AM, ALL MY MEMORIES AND SPELLS BUILT UP OVER CENTURIES OF EXPERIENCING LIFE ON ALURE AND OTHER WORLDS. ALL OF THAT AND MORE COULD BECOME YOURS TO EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND, YOUNG RICK! BEN COULD DO SO ALSO, IF WE CAN HELP HIM FIND HIMSELF. I ENTERTAIN THE NOTION OF SEVERAL HUMANS LIVING FOR A TIME ON ALURE FOR LEARNING AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE PURPOSES. BUT WE MUST FIRST STOP THE DEMONS FROM DESTROYING ALL OF WHAT YOU HAVE GLIMPSED. THAT IS THEIR INTENT. AND ONLY CREATURES LIKE US WHO TREASURE AND UNDERSTAND LIFE AND LIFE ENERGIES CAN STOP THEM."
Ben could of course overhear, and experienced a pang of jealousy and regret. He had seen with his own eyes some of what Soone had given Rick a glimpse of, but had been unable to experience it as deeply as Rick did by mind-melding with Soone for only a few seconds, something he had never been able to do! How much he had missed over these last eight years! People who have lost their eyesight must have s
imilar distraught feelings, he reasoned! But feeling sorry for himself was a useless exercise, he had learned many times over. He forced himself to move on.
Ben and Soone shared the small piece of Evil within their joined hands. It looked like a harmless piece of coal but burned to the touch as if it were acid. That had to be painful for the elf, though he made no complaint. Ben felt nothing: no burning pain from the Evil and no warmth of life from Soone.
His other hand was grasped by Ann. He could now sense that she was somewhere near, and that was huge progress made. But his paralysis with regard to magic was still mostly intact.
Soone sensed a great deal as he probed his human friends cautiously. Ann was strong, welcoming, loving, and honest. She was obviously very strong in magic, fully as strong as an average elf. Rick was even more interesting. Probing the powerful youngster was a give-and-take operation, with Rick probing him as much as he was probing Rick. At only six years old the boy's magic was as strong as anyone the Gaou had ever probed, human or elf. Soone was fully as astonished with Rick as Rick was with Soone!
Together both old elf and young boy monitored the link between Ann and Ben, and the interaction between Ben and the Evil. Soone and Rick also tweaked the Evil with tiny bursts of Life Energy, and the Evil tweaked back with little bursts of unruly chaos! Ben's shield responded with little push-backs to the Evil, and Soone and Rick watched how it was being done.
"That strange and rich texture to Ben's shielding is Wild Magic," said Soone. "And it's somehow under his control! That's something elves haven't been able to do in millions of years! Sprites and Demons to some extent deal with Wild Magic, but not in as such a sophisticated manner as this! Ben, can you sense how you're doing it?"
Apprentice Wizards of Hope Page 26