by J. M. Bannon
Rose made her way to the cabin door and outside. She looked out and ahead was a ship with a beacon of demon fire, “Captain head towards that boat” The demon hunter then ran down the slippery stair and across the deck to the bow of the ship. “Faster!” she cried.
Rose was soon joined by Halvar, the Maori, and the Irishman. She turned to them and explained her plan "I want to shoot the Spear of Light into the person who will be on that ship." The Irishman looked at it and shook his head, "never will work. Its the wrong diameter for the gun and won’t snug up to the packing. Without a good packing seal, there’ll be no pressure, distance, or accuracy.
The Maori interrupted “the sky may be still but the waters are not” They all looked overboard to see that the surface of the sea was twisting and circulating into the ship they were looking to intercept, a whirlpool was developing pulling them sideways and towards the ship.
The pull was strengthening and although Rose was no sailor she knew the speed and way the ship was moving was not natural and they were closing fast on the other ship, so fast she thought they may strike it. As the Thrift circled around the other ship in the pull of the whirlpool Rose saw him a Spaniard the one she saw the day before; convulsing on the deck.
The Metamorphosis had begun the man sprouted locust wings that ripped through his flesh, they fluttered to throw off the gore. Then a second eruption Pazuzu pushed up and out of the human skin like a butterfly coming out of a chrysalis only far more violent in action. Now there on the deck stood the dog faced and winged demon of the storm Pazuzu.
CHA-CHUNK, The harpoon gun fired with a burst of steam and the iron spike flew its line trailing behind. The shot was square in the demon’s chest. Halvar let our a hearty roar of pride his aim was true. “I have caught your monster, Sister.”
That single harpoon was enough to bring down the largest animals on earth but it did not phase the Lord of storms, who thrust himself up into the air with his powerful wings and alighted, the harpoon line spooled out as the demon flew but then it didn’t. Instead of going taut like when the whales would bolt away from the pain the line piled up on the deck. The line slacked as Pazuzu came down from the sky and landed on the deck. The demon landed with a crash the iron deck buckled and warped under the weight of the storm god. There he was on the foredeck of the Thrift over ten feet tall wing fluttering and his arms outstretched in exaltation of his rebirth on the mortal plane.
Rose stepped in front of the ancient demigod and evoked the Enochian language. “Pazuzu, bringer of storm and drought,”
“Who utters, my name in angel speak?” the demon asked as he pulled the harpoon from his chest. “I am Rose Caldwell and I stand before you not to bargain but to destroy you, behold I wield the Spear of Light.” Upon seeing the spear the demon threw the harpoon at Rose.
She dodged out of its path and protected herself with the shaft of the spear. The harpoon glanced off the spear but the force of the demons throw knocked her to the ground. The harpoon ended its flight impaled the deck of the ship. “The Demon spoke to her in Akkadian “Do not foul my ears with the tongue of angels, you are mortal you can not wield that artifact.”
Pazuzu lunged at Rose and grabbed at her with his taloned hand he would have reached her but the winged demon was stopped just before he could reach rose.
The Maori had thrown a harpoon into the back of Pazuzu, not one of the bulky steam harpoons but an old wooden one of Maori design. He had wrapped the rope of the harpoon around his waist and arms and was holding the demon back from rose single-handed. The Maori stared at the demon bug eye with his tongue out in a Maori war cry. The native was actually trying to scare an ancient Demigod. That moment of deflection was all Rose needed. She grabbed the shaft of the Spear of Light and swung it around its tip grazing the demon’s chest slicing his hide while making a sizzling sound. Pazuzu looked back at Rose and before he could fly or utter a word, she jammed the spear home. With a crack of white light and a strange vacuous crackling sound Pazuzu was dissipated to aether, no longer on the mortal plane and no longer in the multiverse to be summoned again.
At the end of her spear was the Spaniard, dead from a spear wound to the chest and a harpoon to the back. With the demon gone the Maori let go of the line.
Halvar cheered with a loud yell, smile and clenched fists then ran to his Maori crewmate and lifted him up in a bear hug.
Rose said a prayer for the soul of the dead Spaniard then looked up to confirm that the storm was breaking. “Can one of you get a tarp or a blanket to cover him up?” Rose dislodged the spear and made her way to the wheelhouse.
She stopped and turned to the crew looking at the Maori “what’s your name, Mate?”
“Pāora Te Potangaroa” he answered.
She walked back to him “How were you able to hold a demon with your bare hands and that flimsy homemade harpoon?”
He held up his thick forearm and fist.
“I get it you have strong arms but that was Pazuzu in full manifestation.”
“Pāora pointed to the bracelet on his wrist it was black lava stone beads and tiger eye. This tiger's eye gives me the clarity of vision to hit my desired target. The lava stone anchors me to the earth.”
Who am I to argue with him about where he gets his power? I wear a belt with dead saints teeth and hair to stop demons and call on angels. “That would come in handy”
“You can have mine,” said Pāora.
“No you keep it you know how to use it,” replied Rose “but, thank you, for the offer of the talisman and most of all for your help in slaying the demon.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J M Bannon is the author of the Guild Chronicles. When not writing then the time is spent reading or walking the grounds of the sanitarium where on a clear day you can see all the way to Prague Castle.
Feel free to reach out by email. All emails are read by the staff of the Brookhaven Sanitarium and will be answered by J M Bannon or his Doctor Gustav Kreppelin.
If you also have witnessed the events that have occurred in the Non-Newtonian Universe and would like to help others to understand it’s true reality write JM and learn how you can contribute as an advanced reader or writing in the NNU.
Learn More:
https://cuxllc.lpages.co/guildchronicleslander/
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ALSO BY J M BANNON
The Alchemists November 2017
The Necronists December 2017
The Mechanists January 2018
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
Foreword
Special Thanks
1. Sunday the 6th of June
2. Monday the 7th of June
3. Tuesday the 8th of June
4. Wednesday the 9th of June
5. Friday the 10th of June
6. Sunday the 12th June
7. Monday the 13th of June
8. Tuesday the 14th of June
9. Wednesday the 15th of June
10. Thursday the 16th of June
11. Friday the 17th of June
12. Monday the 20th of June
13. Tuesday the 21st of June
14. Wednesday the 22nd of June
15. Friday the 24th of June
16. Saturday the 25th of June
17. Friday the 16th of April
18. Saturday the 25th of June what remains
19. Monday the 27th of June
20. Tuesday the 28th of June
21. Wednesday the 29th of June
22. Friday the 2nd of July
23. Saturday the 3rd of July
Thank You
Chapter One of The Alchemists Book One of the Guild Chronicles
About the Author
Also by J M Bannon
o The Guild Chronicles (The Guild Chronicles: A Steampunk Fantasy Book Series 0)