by Leo Romero
I grumbled under my breath. This chick had an answer for everything. “Enough games, Nigella,” I said, straightening my back.
“Aw, already? We’ve only just begun.”
“All I want is information. I’ve got a problem and I think you can help shed some light on it.”
She stared at me for a second and I could almost feel myself being drawn to her like a moth to a flame. “Who’s the girl?” she asked, breaking the spell.
“She’s with me.”
“Like ’em young, eh?”
I rolled my eyes. Nigella held out her hand toward Aurora. “Come here, precious,” she said in a soft voice.
I met Aurora’s concerned stare. I reluctantly nodded. Aurora stepped forward and held out a trembling hand. Nigella took it and I Aurora shivered. Nigella snatched up her other hand and Aurora gasped. I was ready to pull out Bam Bam, although I’d probably need a light-imbued Excalibur to take this witch down, when Nigella took both of Aurora’s hands in one of her own and lightly stroked her hair with her free hand. She pushed Aurora’s hair back, exposing her ears. Her slightly pointy fae ears she’d inherited from Bracken. “My my,” Nigella whispered, “how curious.” She studied Aurora like she was some kind of science experiment. Aurora recoiled in discomfort.
“That’s enough, Nigella,” I said.
“Hush!” She gazed intently at Aurora. “Look at me.”
Aurora resisted.
“Look at me!” Nigella growled and Aurora did as she was told. Nigella gazed into her eyes and they seemed to be psychically glued to one another. That went on for an uncomfortably long time; Nigella just gazing, Aurora almost hypnotized. I watched them both, my insides squirming.
Nigella was the first to twitch. A sliver of fear flickered in her eyes, followed by wide-eyed horror. I frowned in confusion.
“You’re the Dark Bearer,” she said with a gasp.
“That’s right,” I said, and Nigella met my stare. She had a woozy look in her eyes like she was punch-drunk. I felt a smile rising up my cheeks. I quite liked seeing her brought down a peg or two.
“Do you know what this means?” Nigella asked.
I nodded. “Sure. She’s the golden child.”
“She’s more than that.” Nigella looked me up and down. “And what is your role in this?”
“I’m her guardian in the Overworld. Orders from Heaven.”
“So, the Dark Bearer and her guardian angel have come to seek my help. I’m honored.” She turned to Aurora. “How do you feel about being the Dark Bearer?”
Aurora sighed. “Scared. Excited. Unstable.”
Nigella threw back her head and cackled. Man, I hated it when she did that.
“I’ll say,” she said. “You could be the difference between Hell on Earth or peace on Earth. Which makes you important. You need to be looked after.”
“She’s in good hands,” I said, almost offended.
“That’s debatable,” Nigella said with a snort and took another gulp of wine.
My back straightened.
“So, what’s with the ears?” Nigella asked. “Those are fae.”
“She’s Bracken’s daughter.”
“I didn’t know Bracken had a daughter.”
“Neither did he.”
“Figures.” She poured herself some more wine. “So how exactly can I be of assistance to you both?”
“We’ve got a problem,” I told her.
“Darling, we all have problems,” Nigella said and drank some more wine.
“Yeah, but this is a biggie.”
“Which is?”
“Gargoyles. They’re all over town hunting down angels and I want to know where they’re coming from.”
“You have no idea where they are coming from?”
“Yeah, I kind of do. Okay, it’s a long story.”
Nigella held her hands out to the sides. “Well, we’ve got all night.”
I took a deep breath to gather my thoughts and told her the story about the Armor of Agony, Beelzebub and Samuel. How we thwarted their plan just in time, how Samuel was melted down in the armor, then how the gargoyles showed up and were taking down angels, and finally what Cassandra showed me back at Dark Suits Tower. Nigella listened intently, a frown of concentration embedded on her face. This was interesting to her. And something about that intrigued me. From the moment she realized Aurora was the Dark Bearer, the sassy, sexy, vampiric necromancer act had vanished and given way to someone who actually gave a shit. It was a welcome change.
She rubbed her chin, her brow furrowed while she digested what she’d been told. “Hmm, from what you’re telling me,” she said, “it looks like you’ve managed to unleash King John Ignatius’ stone army of Tartarus.”
“Whose army?”
“John Ignatius. He was a twelfth century king who used magic to conquer vast swathes of Eastern Europe during the Crusades. Although he made great strides for the Church against the Caliphate, the magic he and his sorcerers used was perceived to be evil. Satanic. Of the devil.” Her eyes sparkled and a faint smile sat on her lips. Someone walked over my grave and I shook off the sensation.
“Anyway,” Nigella continued, “he devised a plan to defeat the Caliphate. He ordered his finest sculptors to painstakingly fashion an army of gargoyles from the hardest stone they could find. Once crafted, Ignatius’ sorcerers imbued them with the magic necessary to allow them to come to life. And then they needed only one more thing. Souls. Ignatius had his sorcerers hide the army away from the prying eyes of the Church in a place for safekeeping until the day came when it would be unleashed.”
“Which was where?”
“Tartarus.”
“Tartarus?”
“It’s the lowest depths of the ancient Greek Underworld. Hades.”
“Wait, isn’t that just Hell?”
“No. Hell is where Jehovah sent Lucifer and his army of rebel angels. Hades is somewhere else. The two run parallel, but are different. A bit like two subway tunnels running alongside one another. Hades has become a lost world, a place long forgotten. Especially Tartarus. Until now that is.”
“Why’d he hide them there?”
Nigella shrugged. “Who’d think of looking? But Ignatius was assassinated along with his sorcerers before he had a chance to use his army. Many believe it was a conspiracy hatched by the Church but it has never been proven. Whatever the case, his stone army has been left abandoned for centuries. Looks like you’ve awoken it. Beelzebub and Samuel opened the portal and you finished the job.”
I shook my head. “No. We stopped the ritual. The portal was closed as the ritual wasn’t completed.”
She shook her head. “Incorrect.” She picked up her goblet and took a swig. “The ritual was completed. A portal was opened during the first part of the ceremony. The second part, which was to direct the portal to Hell specifically, wasn’t completed as the Dark Bearer wasn’t sacrificed in the Armor of Agony. When the Armor of Agony cannibalized Samuel, his soul was accepted in the ritual, but as it wasn’t the Dark Bearer’s soul, a portal to Hell wasn’t opened up, but to someplace else in the Dark Underworld. Tartarus. And his soul entered the first of the gargoyles, awakening it, allowing it to enter this world through the portal that was opened. It killed an angel and that soul went directly into gargoyle number two. That gargoyle awakened and then killed an angel to awaken number three and so on and so forth. The last one awakened must kill to awaken the next.”
“Why are they killing only angels?”
“Clearly, they’ve been directed to.”
“By who?”
She shrugged. “By whoever wants to see the end of the Angel Guild. Made any enemies lately?”
“Plenty. But none who hate angels specifically. Just me.”
“Well, looks like the Guild has peeved someone off enough to do all this. And someone with superior skills in the dark arts and a motive to raise Hell. My guess is that the plan involves removing the angel threat in order to get to her.”
She pointed at Aurora. “She is after all under the protection of the Angel Guild. No more Guild, no more protection. Now they are free once more to open the portal to Hell.”
My mind worked and pieces of the jigsaw began slotting into place. A crazy genius who was loose in the Overworld, who happened to be a satanic nut, and who’d already had a plan to fulfill the prophecy of the Dark Bearer thwarted.
I met Aurora’s stare. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Tarron Skalanis,” she said.
I nodded.
“Tarron Skalanis?” Nigella echoed. “The dark elf?”
I faced her. “Yeah, you know him?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes. An old pupil of mine believe it or not. He used to come up here from the Underworld to practice necromancy. He was very good. And so I took him under my wing, as I do every so often when a rare talent comes along. Like I did with Erasmus. I haven’t heard from Tarron in a while.”
“That’s because he’s been busy worshipping Satan.”
“How do you know that?”
“According to Bracken, Skalanis was the leader of a satanic group called Seventh Disciple. They attempted a coup where they were going to sacrifice Aurora. Bracken foiled the plan, but Skalanis escaped from jail and came up here to the Overworld to hide out.”
“Interesting. So, he’s taken things to the extremes. Sad when that happens.”
“I’m supposed to be hunting him down for Bracken, but I’ve been somewhat preoccupied.”
“You have no idea where he is?”
“I’ve got a couple of leads, but nothing concrete.”
Nigella continued to stare at us both, her eyes gleaming as the cogs of her intricate brain whirred. She was scheming, I knew it, but what she was scheming I had no idea. This new information seemed to have her interest and I didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“Well, the plot thickens,” she said. “Looks to me like Tarron has managed to get himself a stone army to raise Hell and you’ll have to stop him.”
I rubbed my head. I thought we’d managed to put an end to all that crap, when in reality we’d just created a whole new problem. “How do we do that?”
“You’ll need to close the portal. But first, you need to destroy the gargoyles. Tarron will be powerless without his army.”
“How? They’re tough as nails. It took almost all of us and a rhinoman just to take down one.”
“Well, yes, if they’re carrying angel souls they will be stronger than normal. You’re going to need a stonecrusher.”
“What’s a stonecrusher?”
“It’s a type of rock troll that crushes stones. It has really big hands and literally crushes stones like they’re eggs. Gets a thrill out of it too, which is a nice bonus, means it’ll have a whale of a time crushing gargoyles.”
“Sounds exactly like what we need,” said Aurora.
“And where can we find one of these stonecrushers?” Although I thought I already knew the answer.
“Where all the trolls can be found. Under a bridge in the Chicago Underworld.”
I groaned to myself. Just like I thought. That meant Bracken! I sighed. “And the portal?”
“You’ll have to go to Tartarus and close it from there.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
“And she must go with you. The Dark Bearer started this. She’ll have to finish it.”
I exchanged nervy glances with Aurora. “How do we close it?” I asked.
Nigella took another swig of wine. Man, she was a total lush. “Once every gargoyle is destroyed, the Dark Bearer must drip some of her blood on the remains of the final one to fall. This will leave her mark on Tartarus. Come back through the portal and do the same on the outer surface of the portal and it will close.”
“That’s it? No reciting spells or anything?”
“That’s all. The Dark Bearer’s blood is potent stuff. It alone can do many things.”
“Okay, but how do we get in? I thought the portal was one way only.”
“It is, but a master necromancer can open and close it at will. However, so can the Dark Bearer’s blood. Just a few drops will do. But don’t use too much or you’ll redirect the portal to Hell, and we don’t want that!”
“Okay,” I said, looking at Aurora. “At least we know what to do. Is there a link between Tartarus and the Void?” I asked Nigella.
Her brow crinkled. “Should be. Let me consult the Dimenoracles.” She went over to the bookcase Zane smashed into earlier. She stepped over his unconscious body like he wasn’t there, retrieved a doorstop of a book, and opened it up. She studied it for a few seconds. “Yep, Void overlaps nicely with Tartarus,” she said, snapping the book shut again, the noise stirring Zane out of his stupor. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room in confusion.
“You storing something there?” Nigella asked, coming back over.
“Hopefully our stonecrusher. If we can find one.”
Zane came staggering over, rubbing his head. “Heya, pal,” I said with a grin. “Glad you could join us.”
He gazed around at us with bleary eyes. “Did I miss anything?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Nigella told us all the secrets of the universe and beyond. You missed it all.”
Disappointment jumped onto Zane’s face.
I chuckled. “Well it’s been...an experience,” I said to Nigella. “But, we have to leave.”
“Just one more thing,” Nigella said.
“What’s that?”
“There may be more in Tartarus than just gargoyles. It was a prison where the Greek Gods sent their enemies.”
I rolled my eyes. “What kind of enemies are we talking about?”
“Oh, giants, serpents, cyclops, that kind of thing. It’s where Zeus sent Typhon, the son of Gaia, after he defeated him.”
“Oh boy. So, what’s a Typhon?”
“A hulking dragon-snake beasty thing. But don’t worry, he was dead at the time.” She thought hard for a second, then nodded. “Yes, I’m pretty sure everything there is dead by now, so you’ve nothing to worry about. It should just be an empty cavern of fire and brimstone.”
“Sounds fun. You up for that, Zane?”
Zane showed us his palms. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in.”
“How about you fill me in after?” Nigella said with a wicked grin, leaning back on her desk, her breasts rising up. My eyes almost burst out of their sockets. I caught Aurora giving me a stern, disapproving look.
“What?” I asked her. Next to her, Zane’s gaze was locked on Nigella, his jaw inches from the floor.
Aurora turned to see him and her scowl deepened. Zane caught that look. “Uh-uh-uh...” he stuttered, rendered speechless.
I shook my head. “Some other time, Nigella.”
“I’ll be waiting, fallen angel,” she said with a gleam in her eye. I didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified.
Chapter 16
So it was all clear. We’d inadvertently opened up a portal to Tartarus where Samuel’s soul helped unleash an ancient stone army. All we had to do was get some of Aurora’s blood dripped in a few places and all would be saved. Hooray! Oh and we had to crush the gargoyles first. And for that we needed a rock troll known as a stonecrusher, which meant a nice little trip to the Chicago Underworld.
I got Aurora to open us up a portal to the Underworld, Bracken’s palace specifically. It took a few goes, but eventually, we got there. We stepped into Bracken’s throne room where he was busy being groomed by his tiny fairy helpers while sitting his lazy ass on his throne. Seriously, if he didn’t move around a bit, he’d root into that damn throne.
“There you are,” he barked.
“Good to see you too, Bracken,” I retorted.
“And who is this little bald fellow?” Bracken asked, flicking a finger toward Zane, who was looking around him like it was his first trip to the pyramid
s of Giza.
“Oh, he’s no one interesting,” I answered, being as truthful as I could.
“This place is awesome,” Zane said in a low voice to Aurora, his eyes twinkling with delight.
“Been saying that a lot lately,” I said to Zane.
“Mr. Stone, my life was weird before I met you, now it’s gone uber-insane!”
“It’s about to get worse.”
“Any news on Tarron Skalanis?” Bracken growled.
“I’m working on it.”
“Well work harder.”
I grumbled some obscenities under my breath.
“What was that?” Bracken asked.
“I said how amazing and lush your mane is looking.”
Bracken’s top lip curled up.
“I better introduce myself to your father,” Zane said to Aurora, rubbing his hands and stepping forward.
Bracken watched him approach, his green eyes unwavering while those tiny fairies pulled and brushed his mane.
Zane bowed. “Hail, your grace.”
I facepalmed. Aurora darted her eyes around nervously.
“And what in Perina’s name are you?” Bracken grunted.
“I am Zane the Magician. Sorcerer. Wizard.” He bowed again.
“Stone! Why have you brought this thing into my palace?”
Confusion jumped on Zane’s face. “Thing?” he said to himself.
“If you don’t get him out of here, I’ll have him skinned and flayed!”
Zane’s eyes flashed with fear.
I waved a casual hand on the air. “He doesn’t mean it,” I told Zane, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
“I sincerely do!” Bracken boomed.
“There’s no need to flay anyone, Bracken,” I told him. “We’re just here on the hunt for something.”
“And what would that be?”
“I’m looking for a stonecrusher. Know where any hang out?”
Bracken rubbed his chin. “Hmm, the only one I can think of lives beneath Razor Bridge.”
“And what’s his name?”
Bracken shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”
“What? You’re king of this realm. You must know his name.”