by Leo Romero
A round of slow applause rose into the air. I faced Tarron. He had that arrogant grin back on, which was strange seeing as we’d just thwarted his dastardly plan.
“Bravo,” he said and bowed his head. “Beaten by a rock troll. Oh the shame of it.”
I stepped through the rubble toward him. “I don’t know what you’re so happy about, Tarron. It’s over for you.” I drew Excalibur. “You’re coming with me back to the Chicago Underworld to be tried by King Bracken.”
“Did you truly think my plan rested upon a bunch of gargoyles?” Tarron said.
I shrugged. “Well. Yeah.”
“You idiot!” Tarron sneered. “They were the bait. The bait for you to bring the Dark Bearer here, where we will complete the ceremony.”
“You don’t have the Armor of Agony. You can’t complete the ceremony.”
“Simpleton. We don’t need it anymore. That part of the ceremony has been completed. Now we just need to spill her sacrificial blood in a place of evil. Thank you for bringing her here to the Dark Underworld where we will complete the ceremony I began and unleash Hell on Earth.”
“You began? What are you blabbering on about?”
“I was the one who raised Beelzebub on behalf of Samuel. And I’m the one who will complete the ceremony and live forever in glory in Hell alongside my true master. Because none of us are leaving here!” He raised his hands in the air as if he was about to begin a spell. I went to take off and attack him.
“Stop!”
The voice cried out from behind us, stopping me in my tracks. Tarron flinched out of his spell making. His eyes narrowed in on the woman now standing ahead of the portal with her head bowed. White hair cascaded over one shoulder and over a bosom I knew all too well.
“Nigella?” I exclaimed.
“Master?” Tarron said, equally dumbfounded.
“At least you remember who I am,” Nigella said, raising her face to us all. Her features were stern, almost like an irate school teacher.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’ve come to stop him,” she said, approaching us through the gargoyle remains. “But I needed you to clear those damn gargoyles for me.”
“What, you mean you tricked us into coming here?” I asked, flabbergasted.
“Yes.” She gave me a small shrug. “Soz.”
“You can’t stop this now, master,” Tarron said, his back straightening. “Satan will have his reckoning.”
Nigella placed a hand on her hip. “Well, thing is, Tarron, there are three of us and one of you. A master necromancer; an angel; and a half royal fae, half siren against...an elf. I really don’t fancy your chances,” she said with a languid chuckle.
I grinned as I crossed my arms over my chest and gave Tarron a self-assured look. “She’s right you know.”
Tarron raised his chin, aloof. “Fools! Did you really think—”
Oh no, he’s doing his James Bond villain speechy thing. I hated it when they did that. I kind of zoned out for a few seconds while I waited for him to get to the point.
“—I would take on an angel and the Dark Bearer alone?” he finished.
“Well, you always were rather dim,” Nigella said. “One of the reasons I ended your training early.”
Tarron jabbed his chest with his thumb. “And I completed it alone. As you will bear witness.” He raised his hands and an almighty rumble set off. “Da mihi potestas tenebrarum, o malum unum,” he said out loud. “Surge a mortuis. Ego praecipio tibi.” His eyes rolled up into his head and he levitated a few inches off the ground.
“That looks like some serious magic he’s pulling off,” Aurora said.
The rumbling intensified as Tarron continued to speak in that weird tongue. “Ortum et perdere!” he screeched.
I caught Nigella’s gaze. She was flicking her eyes left and right, her face riddled with apprehension. “Oh no,” she uttered. “Not good.”
“What’s he doing?” I snapped. I didn’t get an answer.
The world shook and Tarron was now floating on the air like he was being held up by strings. His face was zombie-like, distant, drawn, yet he continued on with his bizarre incantations. A sickening wail split the rumbling in two and Pegasus got up on his hind legs. A giant, scaly claw, the size of Pegasus, shot up from the lava pit to the left and clamped down on the floor of the chamber we were in. Chewed and twisted talons dug into the ground, sending up grit. Another claw swiftly joined it as that demonic wail echoed all around us once more. We stood there, rooted, watching as huge dragon-like wings rose up behind the claws and flared. They were torn in places, covered in scorch marks. Pulsing veins bruised purple in color riddled them in disgusting squiggles.
I stepped back, almost tripping over broken gargoyle. Something was crawling out of the pit. Something titanic. It levered itself up and a dragon-like head came into view. Pieces of flesh had been singed away from its skull, its teeth clamped together in two jagged rows. A chipped and blackened horn jutted from the right side of its head above a twisted ear, the horn on the left broken down to a stump. Its eyes were twin jets of fire that burned mercilessly. They roved the chamber, taking everything in. They fixed on us and the beast snarled. It pulled itself up and out into the chamber, its lizard-like torso sitting atop a multitude of thick, writhing snakes. Their heads dodged and darted on the air, their jaws snapping, their yellow eyes glowing like fireflies. The thing lifted itself up onto its snake legs and stood tall, gazing down at us with its inferno eyes burning endlessly. A steaming stench of scorched flesh filled the air, the heat emanating from the thing almost suffocating.
I stared up at the thing with unabridged horror. “Okay, what the hell is that?” I shouted above the hissing snakes, Excalibur and Bam Bam ready to go.
“It’s Typhon,” Nigella told me.
“I thought he was dead!”
“Clearly he’s not.”
Then it hit me. “Tarron resurrected him.”
“Well, he learned from the best,” Nigella said.
Yeah, I get to summon Colin and Tarron gets Typhon. Asshole.
Tarron ceased his incantations and fell back down on the ground, an exhausted mess. He got up on his hands and knees, his chest heaving as he tried to recover from his exertions. He lifted up his face and laid eyes on the beast he’d just raised from the dead. His lips pulled back from his pointed teeth. “Typhon!” he screamed like a maniac.
Typhon’s head whipped around to face him.
“You are mine to command! Kill the girl!”
Typhon flared his wings as he faced us once more.
“We better get outta here!” I said.
The snakes forming Typhon’s lower body slithered through the rubble, sliding along like a hovercraft, pieces of gargoyles crumbling to dust under the pressure. Before I had a chance to react, he swiped a massive claw across the air, snatching up Aurora. She went with a loud yelp, her face a scrawl of terror.
Panic exploded in my mind. I zipped up into the air to meet Typhon’s eye level. I aimed Bam Bam and fired. The blast slug hit him in what was left of his cheek and detonated with a small pop like the uncorking of a champagne bottle. It barely made a dent. Typhon’s cheek twitched like he’d been hit with a tennis ball. Meanwhile, Aurora was clutched in his grip and he was starting to squeeze. Aurora let out a siren blast, the infernal noise reverberating through the chamber. I had to fly back against it, but Typhon barely heard it.
He squeezed harder and Aurora’s scream stopped dead. My mind reeled. If he squeezed a little more, he’d crush her to death and that portal would direct straight to Hell, releasing Satan’s hordes into our world. I was powerless. Typhon was a brute, a giant. My weapons barely scratched him. The fire streaming from his eyes burned even harder. His gnawed lips pulled back in a grin and I swore the asshole was laughing.
Aurora released a choke and my heart lurched. In my mind, I scanned my Deck of Death as fast as I could. Was there something I could use against him? Yes there was.
The ace of spades. Oh boy! Did I have a choice? Times were desperate.
I was about to rifle through my deck in a last throw of the dice when out of the corner of my eye Nigella threw out her arms and pumped out that chest. At any other time, my tongue might’ve lolled from my mouth, but right then I barely noticed. I was instead fixated on what she was doing. Her eyes rolled up and her hair blew back from her head like she was standing in front of a giant fan.
Her form shimmered like waves of radiating heat. With a burst of dark energy, something tore out of her back and rose up above her: a snarling, horned thing with eyes as black as ink, tough red skin stretched tight over a misshapen skull. Its face was a warped contortion of hate and rage, jagged teeth clamped together in a sneer, tendrils of black smoke swirling out of its snout. Its masculine body was a battle-scarred temple of brute power, arcane tattoos glowing off it like mysterious hieroglyphs. Broken chains were embedded in his wrists and throat. Gnarled and knotted muscles flexed as he dragged himself out of his host, his black claws dug deep into her shoulders in a bizarre life-support mechanism. He rolled his head in its socket and roared, the noise like diseased wolves baying at the moon. My body erupted into uncontrollable shivers. The evil radiating from that thing was like heat in a sauna. It was enveloping. It coated my skin, hot and icy at once, driving through me all the way to my bones. I shivered and sweated at once, my mind split in half. Thank the almighty I was in angel form or I might’ve melted into nothing.
The thing fixed his black gaze on Typhon. “Release her!” he snarled, and I finally realized what was up with Nigella. She was possessed. Possessed by something nasty. Something that no doubt crawled straight outta the pits of Hell and jacked itself into her body. Years of mastering the dark arts had opened her up and exposed her to Satan’s legions.
A Prince of Hell? Who knew? Right then, who cared? He appeared to be on our side for whatever reason. Didn’t want Hell to come to Earth. Liked things the way they were. Wasn’t one of Satan’s buddies? Whatever, it was cool by me. Go kill Typhon, you ugly son-of-a-bitch!
The demonic entity leaped out of Nigella like a panther and stampeded through the chamber like an enraged bull, pieces of gargoyle crushing beneath his massive feet and claws as he bounded along, all brawn and power.
He pounced on Typhon without fear, going straight for his face. He dug his claws into Typhon’s chest before opening up his jaws. He jabbed his mouth onto Typhon’s face and clamped down hard. And then started to chew, yanking his head left and right, guttural sounds bursting from his chest as he attempted to pull Typhon’s face right off his skull.
Typhon’s ensuing screech of pain was blood-curdling.
Nigella’s demon wrenched his head around hard, his jaws still clamped to Typhon’s face. The savage movement swung Typhon around and his grip on Aurora loosened. She fell and dropped though the air, her limbs flailing. My eyes widened. I swooped in like a superhero, my arms stretched out ahead of me. I caught her in my grip and flew away from the danger as the two titans came spinning our way, both of them locked in animalistic combat. Claws severed tough skin, ancient fangs jabbed at whatever they could find. Typhon’s snakes darted to the front and slammed their fangs into the demon’s hide. The demon responded by swinging his massive tail, the spikes jutting out the end of it tearing into snake flesh. The demon continued to chomp away at Typhon’s face, fire and blood cascading down the demon’s muscular back.
I swung around and landed in the corner, away from the madness. Pegasus had flown up into the corner and was hovering there out of harm’s way. I put Aurora back on her feet. “You okay?” I asked her.
She gave me a woozy nod. Ahead of us, the two monsters were scrapping, while Nigella was still in her outstretched arm pose. Beyond everything, Tarron was watching on from his plinth, his face a mix of concern and elation. This could go either way. It all depended on Aurora. We still had to close the portal. By our feet were the remains of the final gargoyle. I pointed down to it.
“Get some blood on there,” I ordered and turned to take off.
“Where are you going?”
“To end this.” I flew away, swinging around the fighting demons as I zipped over toward Tarron. Although I wanted to kill the asshole, Bracken wanted him alive. So instead of slicing him up, I threw a fist out at him. He was so preoccupied with the colossal battle ongoing ahead of him, he never saw the punch heading his way. I connected with the side of his head and he hit the deck. I landed on the plinth and turned to face him. Blood was streaming from his nose and staining his pointy teeth. He spat a mixture of spittle and blood from his mouth and grinned at me.
“You’re coming with me,” I said, drawing Bam Bam and aiming it at him. He let out a cackle and I knew right then and there that the guy was totally batshit. What was it about the dark arts that did that to people?
He leaped to his feet, not even worried about my gun. He threw out his arms, striking the same pose as Nigella, his eyes rolling up. There was a shimmer of dark energy and something tore out of his back now. Holy moly. Was everyone around here possessed?
A dog-like head with gnawed ears and sickly-green eyes stitched to a man’s muscular torso emerged. Its arms were writhing serpents complete with snake heads, their jaws biting on the air. It stood on goat legs, its hooves clacking on the ground as it stepped out of the back of Tarron and faced me. Its eyes flared blood-red and it growled. My instant reaction was to fire Bam Bam. A blast slug hit the sucker in the chest and exploded. The demon staggered, but took the blow. It shook off the pixie dust and stormed in toward me, dog jaws open wide, hooves clacking like castanets, snake heads zoning in toward me.
I was hit with the stench of rot and muck before I received a three-pronged attack. The snake on the right headbutted Bam Bam from my grip. The snake on the left took a bite of my forearm and the dog head went for my throat.
Hot, tearing pain shot up my forearm and gnarled fangs ripped into the flesh on my neck. I fell back, smashing into the ground, ancient Tartarus dust flying up all around us. The dog locked its jaw and my throat closed up. In seconds, I was choking. Any more and it would crush my larynx. I struggled against it in desperation, but the thing had me pinned. Snakes were coiled around my arms like thick rubber limbs. Stinging agony broke out all over my throat as the thing bit and chewed. Within moments, I was losing consciousness, the guttural gnawing of the demon on top of me the last thing I’d hear. Forget Purgatory. Hell was awaiting me for being such a dunce. My vision started to turn black and the pain ratcheted up. I continued to choke while the thing tried to eat me alive.
I was about to give in, when out of the corner of my eye, something came swooping in. A loud neigh shot through my mind as hooves smashed into the side of the dog’s head like a battering ram. The thing was torn off me. The pressure on my throat was released and I gasped for breath.
Pegasus was now floating above me, his compassionate eyes gazing down at me. I gave him a thumb up and he swooped down and kicked the dog demon as hard as he could. It rolled away from me, but one of its snake arms remained coiled around my wrist. I immediately unsheathed Excalibur and hammered the edge of the blade down on the snake’s neck. Art sliced triumphantly through that crap, severing it in two, relieving me of it. Blackish-blue blood squirted from the stump like a geyser, spraying the area as it writhed. The severed head continued to thrash and squirm in agony as it died. I rolled away and leaped to my feet. Pegasus was hovering nearby.
“Thanks, Peggsy,” I said in a hoarse voice, my throat aching. I put a hand up to it and my fingers were stained with blood. It wasn’t gushing, which was a good sign. Luckily the bastard missed my arteries. I got whatever light magic I could glowing in my palm and ran it down Excalibur. A dull glow emanated from him. Hopefully it would be enough.
The dog demon jumped up on its hooves and faced me. Blood was still spraying from its severed arm. The other snake head eyed me with caution. I had Excalibur ready, its blood smeared over the blade
.
“Master’s reckoning is coming, angel!” the remaining snake hissed. “His time is coming!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said back. “I’ve heard it all before.”
The thing lunged, its hooves clomping over the ground. The snake head jutted forward, its jaws open wide. I pirouetted away from its attack and sliced Excalibur down as hard as I could. I cut through that serpent like it was a hosepipe. It hit the ground with a soft thud where it writhed and sprayed its sickening blood everywhere. The dog beast didn’t let up. It continued on its attack, ignoring the fact it had just lost both its arms. It dived in, its jaws open wide like a shark on the hunt. I threw my fist right at its mouth. My knuckles slapped on its black, leathery tongue, the feel of it slick and spongy. The dog clamped its jaws on instinct, catching my fist. Pain soared up my wrist and tingled along my arm. The dog began gnawing and my wrist bones shuddered. The thing drew blood, but it was fine by me. As long as it was preoccupied, I could raise Excalibur and bring him down like a guillotine. The divine blade sliced through the thing’s neck like a salami at the deli counter.
I pulled away, that dog head clamped to my hand. I waved it around for a second to try and throw it off, but it clung on for dear life. I slammed it down on the ground and I felt its skull crack under the impact, but it still held on. “Persistent bastard, ain’tcha?” I said and slammed it again with a growl. This time, the head caved in and it released its grip on my wrist. It bounced away and I was faced with what was left of the body as it teetered, blood spraying out of all the severed limbs like it was a Japanese Samurai movie from the 80s. Behind it, Tarron had gone limp, but was still in his trance-like state. I stepped up to the demon’s body and rammed Excalibur’s tip into its chest, aiming for the heart. The blade burst out of the thing’s back. Tarron’s own back straightened and he juddered like he’d been hit with a thousand volts.
“Go to Hell!” I sneered as the remains of the body on my sword flopped and began dissolving into crystals.
“Another demon vanquished!” said Art once I retracted him from the grotesque beast.