“Have you been here for long?”
“No, they kept me somewhere else. But when I refused to help them with their plan, they brought me here.”
“Who are they?” I asked.
“My hands and feet are bound. Can you untie them? I’ll tell you everything I know as you work on the knots.”
“Of course, sorry. I can’t see anything down here.” I moved my hands to hers and started to undo the knot at her wrists. Once she was free, she made quick work of the rope binding her feet.
“So, who are they?” I asked again.
“The boy is my friend, Albert,” she admitted.
“Wait, the cloaked boy is your friend?”
“Yes, the same you saw with me at school.”
“It can’t be. I was face to face with the cloaked boy only days ago; he looked nothing like the boy at school,” I said, dumbfounded.
“He’s a master of disguise; what you see at school is not who he really is,” she explained. “And now he has betrayed me. And the other…” her voice trailed off. “The other is a hideous beast—a werewolf. I never would have believed they existed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” she rambled. “Albert told me we could control it; he said that it’d be fun.”
“It’s not a werewolf,” I said. “It’s a HowlSage, also known as a magician of the moon. And how could that possibly be fun?”
“It started out with some small tricks—a Ouija board, incantations and stuff. Nothing that seemed, you know, real. Next thing I knew, we were summoning control over a werewo—HowlSage.”
I shook my head. I knew that the path to evil was often slow and unassuming; the evil one and his demons were masters at deception, and all she’d mentioned were just some of the “harmless” ploys they used.
“You don’t just come across the incantations and spells to call on a HowlSage. This had to have been going on for some time.”
Silence for a moment. “I guess it has.”
“Of course you’ve realized that this Albert kid is bad news, and I’m not just saying that because I like you.”
“How do you know so much about this? And you like me?” she asked.
“Melanie, I’m not a normal boy,” I said. “I’m a hunter.”
“A hunter?”
“Yes, a demon hunter.”
I felt the cage shake as if she’d just backed as far away from me as the cage walls would allow. “Demon hunter?”
“Yes.”
“So demons exist.”
“Of course they do, and yes, I like you. I didn’t understand why you left me that one day.”
“Oh, that. Well, I realized that I know someone you know.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Your cousin is a friend. I met him in Egypt.”
“Jesse? He never mentioned that.”
“I asked him not to.”
“Oh, well…” I didn’t know what to say. It sort of hurt to think that Jesse would be hiding something from me. And what was worse, it had to do with the girl I liked. Of course, he didn’t know that. I’d never told him who she was, just about her.
Silence.
“Can you kill it?” she asked in a hopeful voice.
“I’ve been trying.”
The kind of quiet that goes with deep thought ensued for a few minutes.
“If we escape from here, do you have somewhere safe we can go?”
“Yeah, The Pink Hippo. Do you have an idea of how to escape?”
Silence again.
“Well, there is this one incantation I know—”
“No. We can’t do that,” I said, my tone sterner than I’d meant it to be.
“But it’s always worked for me in the past. It only calls on a minor demon,” she whispered.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I knew demons existed. After all, that’s what I fought daily. But to hear this girl speak of summoning a demon as if she was deciding what to wear tonight was craziness. And after what I’d just said a few minutes ago. “I thought you were a missionary.”
“My parents are the missionaries,” she retorted. “Besides, do you have a better plan?”
It was only a second of silence, but that was enough for her. “That’s what I thought,” she said, “It’s the only way.”
Those who would come to my aid were either injured or dead. I was alone.
“Besides, if you are a demon hunter, couldn’t you just slay it once it frees us?” Her voice was sweet now and I felt her hand on my arm.
It was a fair point. “But I don’t have any of my weapons.”
“That’s not true,” a voice whispered, but it wasn’t Melanie. “You always have the Sword.”
For some reason I felt my side—no sword. I’d already known it, but I still checked. It was then I realized I was only wearing a cloak. My clothes were still hanging next to me on the bars of the cage. I was sure glad that we were in pitch black. I tucked the cloth a little tighter around me.
“It’s easy to perform,” her hand squeezed my arm tighter. “And I think you’ll enjoy it.” She slid closer to sit next to me.
“I don’t know.”
“I’m telling you, this one is just a minor demon,” she paused and I heard her giggle. “In fact, it’s kind of cute.”
Was I really hearing this? “Cute? A demon is never cute.”
“They can be.”
I shook my head, knowing she couldn’t see. “No, they can’t. Demons are evil. You should know this.”
“Well, suit yourself.” She shifted away from me. “I’m not staying in here any longer. I won’t end up like Jesse.”
“Wait…how do you know about what happened to Jesse?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything.
“Of course. The boy in the cloak was Albert,” I realized aloud. “You knew about all of this, you knew that I was a demon hunter.”
“No, Albert doesn’t tell me everything,” she promised. “He only asks me to help him on occasion.” But I didn’t believe her.
Neither of us spoke.
“The Sword you seek never rusts, it can never bend, nor can it break. The Sword never fails,” the voice was deep and I knew it wasn’t Melanie. It was the same as a few minutes ago.
I shifted from a sitting position to my knees. A word flowed through my mind. Pray. I folded my hands as I knelt.
I heard Melanie make a whimpering noise, but I couldn’t see her.
It was time for me to pray, to speak again to the One I’d shut out. To the One I blamed for my losses. To say, “I’m sorry.”
“Lord, I am so sorry,” I prayed. “I’ve been lost without You. I’ve felt that my hope was gone when my mom disappeared and then my dad fell. I feel so alone. And instead of leaning on You in my time of need, I pushed You away.”
In my heart I felt His presence, and a Bible verse came to mind: I will never leave you nor forsake you.
I knew that though my earthly father was gone, my Heavenly Father was still there. Always.
“Lord, I pray right now for Your forgiveness. Please help me to lean on You. Please send Your help to us. Our fight is for You. Amen.”
I already felt better, like a huge weight had been lifted from me. I’d been carrying that weight for quite a while, all the way back to the loss of my mom; I’d blamed God for taking her from me. I’d been angry with Him. Worst of all, I hadn’t prayed since my dad fell. It was the last straw for me. God had made me an orphan. But try fighting a demon without asking for God’s help. It’s just not possible. And now I realized why the fight had been going so poorly.
A light appeared next to me, growing brighter. But then I heard a whispering in the background.
“Throw off our bindings and come to my aid,” the voice chanted. It was Melanie. “I command you to set me free.”
The light next to me grew brighter. I knew what was happening. I closed my eyes.
“Lord, send your help. Banish that which is being called to this place.”
&nbs
p; Melanie’s voice grew louder. “I call to you to release my bonds. We serve the same master and you must obey.” Melanie let out a piercing shriek.
I opened my eyes. I could see her in the green glow emitting from the demon that now hung above her. It was scaly, with a tail and two arms. No legs. Its head round and plump sitting just on its shoulders, a long curling pink tongue twitched in and out of its mouth rapidly.
“I am Swipe; I have come to steal you from this cage. You shall be free,” it whispered gruffly.
“No!” I shouted. “You are not welcome here. I command you to leave,” I called.
It turned to look at me. “You have no weapon; you have no power over me.” It lurched forward to hover directly in front of me, its talons only inches from my face. “You dare to challenge me?”
I stared into its eyes, small glowing red globes.
It cackled loudly, and turned to look at Melanie as if waiting for a command. “May I?”
I looked at her face, silhouetted in the green glow being given off by Swipe. I couldn’t read her expression. It was solemn, calculating. “You—”
“I don’t, but there is One who does,” came a soft male voice from outside the cage.
A puzzled look crossed the demon’s ugly face, followed by shock as he realized what the voice meant.
I tried to see who was out there, as did the demon and Melanie.
“Jesus,” the voice said.
At the sound of the name, the demon was sucked toward the cage, against the point of a sword poking between the bars.
Its mouth agape in silent horror, a loud sizzling noise resounded from the small demon. And there in its center, glowing brightly, was the end of a sword. The sword glimmered green from the demon and then shone blue as the demon dissolved right before my eyes.
Melanie stumbled backward against the cage walls.
“Taylor!” the voice across from me shouted. “We have to go now.”
The voice was clear to me. I knew who it was. “Ike, how did you find me?”
“I prayed.”
That was good enough for me. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to cut through the bars with a laser,” he explained. “Stand back.”
I stepped back next to Melanie, who was shifting her weight back and forth, making the cage rock. Then I wondered what command she was about to give the demon before it was destroyed.
“Ike, you killed a demon!”
“I know,” he said, his voice shaky as he activated the laser.
“You’re a hunter!”
“Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world, right?” Ike clarified
I nodded. “You’re absolutely right.”
“Don’t be angry,” he said as he worked the laser on one of the bars.
“Why?”
“The sword—it’s your dad’s,” he admitted.
“I see.” A section of one of the bars dropped away.
“Are you—?” he asked.
“No, how could I be? What better a way to honor him then use it to rescue his son?” The words came out even better than I’d expected.
Another section of bar fell away. “One more and the hole should be big enough for you to escape.”
“Melanie, are you OK?” I asked.
She didn’t speak, but I felt her hand slip into mine. She squeezed my knuckles like a little girl about to cross a busy highway.
The last section of bar slipped away and fell to the bottom of the chasm.
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
“I repelled into the shaft,” Ike said.
“Can we get back out that way?”
“Yes, but I only brought one other harness.” Ike stared at Melanie.
“Take her up first and then come back for me,” I said.
I helped Melanie get the harness on and made sure it was tight. Then we hooked her to the rope, directly above Ike. They started their ascent, and I decided to take the opportunity to get out of the cloak and back into my clothes. They were still damp, and my boxers were especially chilly.
Twenty minutes passed before Ike returned. He’d left me my sword and a set of night vision goggles, but the time had seemed like an eternity. We were now on our way up the rope. Melanie was waiting somewhere above.
Ike explained that I’d been missing three days. Everything seemed to be falling apart; my aunt and uncle hadn’t arrived yet. A winter blizzard had blown in and blocked the train tracks and roads into town. Meteorologists had never seen anything like it before—the storm had formed and basically sat over the range in which Ashley Meadows sat, but had not pummeled the town, inn, or mines.
Further, the boring machine being used to reach the trapped people had broken down again. A smaller machine had been used to create a narrow tunnel which supplies could be passed through, but a person couldn’t fit through it yet.
Earlier this morning, Ike had decided to fast. He was kneeling when a book fell off a shelf next to him. He picked it up and a loose sheet of paper fell from it. It was an old map of the mines, and on it was a small penciled cross. The marking was over the position of a former air shaft. His eyes were drawn to it and he knew immediately that I was there, the feeling had overwhelmed him. He set out on his own to rescue me. It’d taken all day to find me, and now it was nearly midnight.
At the top of the shaft I realized how little time we had left. The moon was so bright and growing fuller every night. I’d have to hunt the HowlSage. Tonight. No time to eat and rest.
Ike opened a large pack and pulled out a fresh set of clothes for me, as well as my hunting gear.
“I have a location that has ninety-five percent probability the HowlSage will be there tonight, but you’ll have to go now if you want to get there in time.”
“What about you? And Mel?”
“I’ll take care of her. We’ll head back to The Pink Hippo and wait for you.”
An alarm started beeping on Ike’s watch. “You have to go, it’s almost midnight. I’ve programmed the coordinates into your phone; it’ll navigate you. Just be careful—I think the Raptoryx is near.”
Melanie seemed to be in a daze; she was standing off by herself, staring up at the moon.
Chapter
Twenty-One
October 26th—Thursday
One minute past midnight and I was flying at full speed toward the stone circle. How Ike had such a high probability the HowlSage would be at these coordinates had not been explained, but I knew he had a plan. I had learned that regardless of Ike’s failures thus far, he was really smart.
I put the throttle up and let the J-Pak reach its maximum speed. The streets and houses below were a blur. As I neared the park, I decreased speed and landed on a trail. The air was so chilly, but not as bad as inside the shaft in which I’d been held prisoner.
I’d traveled the path a couple times before, but this time was different. My adrenaline was pumping and I felt sure that I could defeat the HowlSage. A branch ahead swayed in the wind, causing me to look twice, but nothing was there.
A shadow sliding over the empty soccer field next to me caused me to look up. There, gliding in circles over the woods, was the Raptoryx. I knew what was below it—the circle.
I stepped through some branches and onto the trail. It felt spongy, like it’d absorbed as much water as it could before it would turn to muck. The branches were shiny green from wetness and moonlight.
I was nearing the pine trees that blocked the circle from view. Would I find the HowlSage there, or would it be Albert?
I slowly parted the branches that blocked my vision of the clearing. In the center of the circle I saw the thick matted fur of the HowlSage standing like the Egyptian god Anubis. The creature’s arms were raised high; in them was the belt that had been captured by McGarrett and Jesse.
How? I thought it’d been secure within the workshop, unless…but he wouldn’t have. Someone else moved into view—a cloaked figure that could only be Albert. He was m
oving in a slow shuffling dance around the exterior of the circle.
At the moment, I was horribly outnumbered—the Raptoryx high above, the HowlSage, and the boy. If there was any time I needed help it was now. I’d have to do this myself, so I formed a plan.
First I’d strike the HowlSage with the point of my silver sword through its heart. After that I’d go for Albert. I’d need to get him out of the clearing and into the protective cover of the trees so that the Raptoryx wouldn’t have the opportunity to strike. Once Albert was restrained, then I’d mess with the overgrown bird above. It had to be a precise slash and dash attack. Success hinged on the element of surprise and how fast I could run.
Sure, all of my previous attempts had failed, but now I knew why. I’d stopped trusting in the One who was at my side, whose help was always there waiting for me to ask for it. But tonight, suspended in that cage, witnessing a demon being summoned next to me, my eyes were opened again to how real this battle was. The evil one and his minions were still working hard to steal away the souls of humans.
Albert kept doing his freaky dance, getting closer to me; I’d wait until he was at the farthest part of the stone circle from me. Quite possibly I could move in, skewer the creature, and then tackle Albert into the woods.
The cloaked boy was nearly there. It was time. I slipped my sword from its sheath. Something jingled as I did and I looked at the HowlSage and Albert; neither moved.
Wrapped around the hilt was a cross on a chain. My heart sunk for a moment. This cross had been my mom’s. I’d used it the first night, but since then left it in my drawer. I knew Ike had retrieved it and placed it on my sword. He’d had hope all along; he’d never checked out of the battle. The cross was significant, because the sight of it could weaken any demon.
This was the moment I’d waited for, and it seemed as if everything was coming to a head. Five more seconds.
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
A hand on my shoulder caught me off guard, forcing me to spin around. I wobbled backward and nearly into the clearing.
Jesse?
“What are you doing here?” I whispered, it took every ounce of control to keep my voice down, I was so excited. Why wasn’t he dressed in his hunting gear?
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