by Leo Romero
I gave him a satisfied nod. Tarron’s body collapsed onto the ground, totally fried. He was now free of the demon possessing him, but he’d known what he was doing. This was no accident. He’d no doubt invited that demon in, probably falling for its tricks of allowing it to use him as a host. And that’s all it wanted, didn’t want to overtake and corrupt its host completely like in a summoning. No, a possession was different. It was an invite whether witting or unwitting. The demonic entity just wanted to sit there and use Tarron to do whatever it wanted. And Tarron had allowed it. I could have killed him and left him in Tartarus, but that would be too easy for him. Bracken would have to judge him. Now that he didn’t have that demon inside him to aid him, he’d find the privy gaol a harder place to escape from.
I went and snatched him up and threw him over my shoulder. I faced the scene ahead of me. Typhon and Nigella’s demon were still tearing into one another. Beyond them, at the far end of the chamber, Aurora was cowering. Nigella’s demon was crisscrossed with fresh wounds. He was locked in a war, one he wasn’t giving up easily. He had one of Typhon’s snakes in its grip, while Typhon’s jaws were locked on his other wrist. Nigella’s demon threw back his head and brought it down on the top of Typhon’s as hard as he could. Typhon’s lockjaw was loosened and Nigella’s demon interlocked the fingers of both his fists and slammed them down on the back of Typhon’s head like a sledgehammer. Typhon crashed to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Nigella’s demon took the brief respite to whirl around and face me, blood seeping out between his fangs, deep cuts running down his cheeks and across his forehead.
“Get out of here!” he growled, his chest heaving.
I didn’t need a second invitation. I whistled for Pegasus and he flew down to meet me. I slung Tarron down over his back and he glued to Pegasus. I jumped on and kicked him into life. He took to the air and galloped through the chamber. We made it to the two warriors where Typhon had managed to recover from the last blow. His body slammed into Nigella’s demon. The two of them came hurtling our way. I yanked Pegasus’ reins to the left. He swayed across the air and shot forward, narrowly avoiding them both. They crashed into those cell-like bars and for a second, I thought they were going to cave in. They held firm and the two fighters bounced off, falling separate.
We reached Aurora. “Have you done it?” I asked down at her.
She nodded, showing me her cut thumb.
“Good. Get on!” I landed. Aurora went to jump on Pegasus when an intense growl made us both turn. The two fighters were getting off the deck. Nigella’s demon rose, but collapsed to its knees in exhaustion, his chest heaving. Typhon turned to face him, glowering down over him. Nigella’s demon straightened his back and turned his head up to face Typhon. His eyelids were half-closed, his jaw was slack. Typhon flared his wings, pulled his elbows back, and then stabbed all of his claws into Nigella’s demon’s chest. The demon’s back stiffened. He thrashed his fists on the air in a final riposte, but they caught nothing. Blood spurted from the wounds, down his body and the strength in his limbs petered out into nothing. He flopped and collapsed to the side, a mighty foe fallen.
My eyes widened in concern. “Uh-oh.”
Typhon swiveled to face us. His twin jets of fire for eyes burned with greater intensity. He had no intention of giving up his mission directive to kill Aurora. He set off after us, his snake-legs writhing in excitement.
“We’ve gotta bail!” I said.
“What about Nigella?” Aurora asked. My eyes darted her way. She was sprawled on the ground far away, unconscious.
I shook my head. “We don’t have time. You’re more important. We’ve gotta get out and close the portal!”
Typhon stormed our way, his massive wings flared.
“Yah!” I shouted to get Pegasus moving. He kicked into life and stampeded for the portal. Behind us, Typhon was eating up the ground with minimal effort.
“He’s coming,” Aurora said.
“I didn’t think he was gonna go grab a coffee,” I retorted. The portal was just ahead on the left. We still needed to close it. The most important thing was to stop Typhon from killing Aurora. The sound of slithering and hissing snakes got louder by the second, Typhon’s intense, ragged panting like Freddy Krueger chasing down a teenager.
“Come on, Peggsy!” I growled. Pegasus neighed and pumped his legs harder. The red glow of the portal enveloped us, turning Pegasus’ mane a shade of lilac. Behind us, the disgusting slither and hiss intensified. Pegasus cut a sharp left and we burst through the portal. Pegasus flapped his wings and we shot straight up into Earth’s night sky, a blanket of stars now facing us, cold wind rushing past us, cooling my clammy skin.
“Get us down on the roof!” I ordered and Pegasus made a swift U-turn. The roof came into view. The pentagon-shaped portal was emitting its red glow. The others were standing by, their faces upturned toward us.
We were about to head straight down to join them when Typhon burst out of the portal.
Pegasus staggered back. The angels standing around leaped back, some of them taking to the air. Typhon slapped his claws down on the edges of the portal to clamp himself in place. He gazed around him, taking in his new surroundings, his teeth chattering. Those snake-legs writhed up behind him like periscopes and turned left and right, their tongues licking the air.
“What the hell is that?” Ramirez shouted out.
“Unforeseen circumstances!” I shouted back. It was the most diplomatic I could be right then.
Typhon released a hellish screech that shook through Chicago. He pushed down on his claws as he levered himself out of the portal. He wanted to come and live on Earth. Jerome rushed in and smashed Typhon’s forearm with an iron fist. It bounced off Typhon like nothing. Typhon gazed down at Jerome as one of his snake legs jabbed its head forward. It struck Jerome in the midriff, sending him airborne.
Belinda flew in.
“Belinda, no!” I shouted.
She wasn’t in the mood to listen. She floated ahead of Typhon’s face and pulled out Jack and Jill. She went to work, her light-imbued bullets ricocheted off Typhon’s leathery skin like ball bearings hitting a sheet of lead. Typhon merely watched her until she’d completely unloaded, by which point she realized it was fruitless.
She gazed from her guns to the mighty creature ahead of her. “Uh-oh!”
Typhon roared and swiped a claw at her.
“No!” I shouted and urged Pegasus to swoop in. He shot through the air and lowered his head, hitting her between her wings with his forehead. She stuck to him like glue and he zipped upward, taking her with him. Typhon’s claw stormed in below us, severing nothing but air. Barely a second later and Belinda would’ve been shredded. Pegasus shook her off and she flew off to the side to relative safety.
“Thanks,” she said with a gasp.
“Everyone stay away from that thing!” I shouted. The others immediately backed off, hovering at a safe distance. Typhon let out an excited rasp as if he was relishing entering this new world. He heaved himself out some more with guttural noises, his snakes dancing on the air in delight.
I watched on helpless, dread filling my heart. If that thing got out it could rip the world a new one. No wonder Zeus sent him down to Tartarus. It was where the asshole belonged.
“We have to stop that thing,” Aurora said in my ear.
“You got a plan?” I asked back.
She didn’t answer. Typhon straightened his elbows and he was almost fully out. He reached his face for the sky and released another of those screeches. Someone in Bucktown was awoken from their sleep.
“Gabe, we have to do something!” Aurora yelled.
Thoughts collided in my mind. I was faced with an unbeatable enemy. There was nothing left, I had no other choice. I had to play the ace of spades. I reached into my pocket and went through my deck until I found it.
“Quick, Gabe!” Aurora warned. Typhon had almost dragged himself out of the portal. My fingers trembled as I lifted that card,
the ace stamped on the middle of it shimmering. My blood ran cold, I closed my eyes. God help us all...
My lips parted and I went to utter the name—
A howl of rage stopped me. My eyes snapped open as something else burst from the portal behind Typhon. A desperate, broken thing, his jaws open, wild and cavernous. His black eyes gleamed with reckless abandon as he took his final lunge. Nigella’s demon was battered and bruised, his body lacerated and bleeding, but he had one last attack left in him. He dug his claws into Typhon’s wings and tore down them like fabric. Typhon’s howls of agony rocked the sky. Nigella’s demon slammed his open jaws on the back of Typhon’s neck and chomped down. There was a sickening crack of bone and rip of skin and Typhon writhed around, desperate to relieve himself of the thing clamped to his back. Nigella’s demon held on as Typhon tried to shake him off. The demon released his claws and pounced upward, flattening Typhon across the roof, his arms sprawling. I stared at Nigella’s demon in stunned bewilderment. I’d thought he was down and out, but he still had a little more juice in the tank. That and a will to destroy Typhon’s and ultimately Satan’s plans.
I watched with a slack jaw, the ace of spades still clutched in my trembling grip, as Nigella’s demon sank his black talons into the side of Typhon’s head, lifted it and slammed it into the roof, leaving a dent. He smashed it a few more times and the flames in Typhon’s eyes died down to mere flickers. The snakes of Typhon’s legs soared up and wrapped themselves around the demon’s arms, stopping him from slamming Typhon’s dragon head. The fires in Typhon’s eyes grew stronger and he raised his head. Nigella’s demon growled and shoved his open jaws forward, grabbing hold of the back of Typhon’s head. The snakes pulled back and the momentum sent them both reeling. They fell through the portal once more, vanishing from view.
Calm ensued. I stared at the glowing portal with hot eyes. Now was our chance. “Quick! Get down there!” I urged Pegasus, who swooped down without hesitation. We landed on the damaged roof.
“Get some blood on there!” I ordered Aurora, my eyes not leaving the portal. She jumped down and approached the portal with caution. It was perfectly still like a lake on a pleasant morn. She stopped and stared as if she expected a crocodile to come bursting out of it, shattering the illusion.
I scowled at her. “Aurora!”
She jumped into life. “Okay,” she said and pulled out her knife. She ran it down an index finger with a wince. She went to drip some of her blood on the portal when a snake head popped out of there, making her pull back and scream.
“Aurora!” I shouted and went to jump off Pegasus. The snake hissed at her before a bloodied and scratched claw shot out of the portal and grabbed its throat, causing its tongue to pop out. There was a coarse grunt and the snake was unceremoniously yanked back through the portal.
I shook my head in disbelief. We had to get that thing closed quick. “Hurry up, Aurora!”
She caught her breath and nodded at me. She raced up to the portal, while squeezing her cut finger. She leaned over the portal, engulfed by that red light. I watched on with bated breath, half-expecting Typhon to pop his ugly ass outta there any second. I muttered a small prayer to myself. Come on, come on, come on, my frenzied mind gibbered.
Aurora dropped some of her rare blood on the portal and hopped back, her wide eyes staring downward. The red light immediately faded. In a couple of seconds, it blinked repeatedly. Aurora’s irises flashed red, then bottle-green in an ever increasing sequence. The red light receded in on itself as the portal closed up. Nigella’s demon still had Typhon locked in Tartarus.
Just a little more, Nigella, just a little more!
A screech shot out from within the portal and my heart skipped a beat.
The portal closed in some more and now it was a thin circle of red light shining into the sky. That screech echoed away into the night as the circle of light blinked a couple more times and then vanished in on itself.
A stony silence took over. Everyone flicked their eyes at one another. Is it over?
As the seconds ticked by, a serene calm fell over us all. Once I was sure we were in the clear, my heart blossomed with joyous relief. Aurora fell to her knees and bowed her head. My own head slumped between my shoulders.
Jerome flew over and gave me a hearty pat on the back, and with his iron fist still on, almost knocked me off Pegasus. “Good work, Gabriel.”
I gave him a tired nod. “Yeah, you too, buddy.”
He stared at me, concerned. “You look like you’ve been through the wars.”
“Ah, it’s nothing,” I said, getting light magic up in my palm and rubbing my neck with it. That would close up any open wounds and help accelerate the healing process. At least a little.
Jerome nodded and marched off to check on the others.
Belinda came over. “I take it we can get back to work now?” she said with a wry grin.
“Yeah, but I wanna hot shower and a cold beer first.”
“I’ll buy you one.”
I smiled. “See you at O’Reilly’s.”
I looked down at my hand to see the ace of spades still in my grip. I gulped. How close had we come? I dreaded to think.
“What was it like in there?” Ramirez asked as he floated over. He was nodding toward the portal as he spoke.
“Hell,” I said, putting the ace of spades back in my Deck of Death.
“What were those things that came out of there?”
“The son of Gaia, and...” I shook my head. “Some kind of demon who was on our side.”
“A demon on our side? Never thought I’d see that.”
“Neither did I.” I thought about Nigella still down there in Tartarus and my heart burned with regret. She’d sacrificed herself to save us. Or had it been the demon possessing her? Either way, I was more than glad they did otherwise who knew where we’d be right now. I gazed down at Aurora and she looked up at me. There was a faint smile on her face.
I nodded at her. We did it! Again! Man, this saving the world crap was tiring. All I wanted to do was go to bed.
I gave Aurora a weary smile.
It was time to go home.
Chapter 22
We all went back to the Guild to wait for the angel power up to wear off and tend to our wounds. I thought maybe the bad vibes toward Aurora would kick-start again, but by then the others were too exhausted emotionally and physically. Besides, it wasn’t the time. We’d just saved our asses and the vibe should have been happy and relieved, not spiky and aggravated.
I tied up my prisoner and left him in the corner where he mumbled to himself incoherently as he roved in and out of consciousness. Having that demon inside him probably fried his brain. Whatever, he’d be dealing with Bracken soon enough.
Jerome served Ambrosia all round and we toasted the ones we’d lost to Purgatory. My heart was heavy while we drank. I couldn’t shake the guilt. Couldn’t help but feel it was partly my fault those gargoyles were put on us. I kept asking myself whether I could’ve done things different, wishing I could turn back the clock. It was a state of mind I was finding myself in more and more as time went on. The truth was, I couldn’t dwell on the past. If I did, I might not be ready to deal with what the future had waiting for us and that would mean more lives lost on my account, which in turn meant more regret. A never-ending cycle.
The truth was, the Guild needed me. The others needed me. And I couldn’t let them down. I had to accept my role in this weird life, this strange world. I had to be ready and able.
We had another round of Ambrosia and I held up my glass. “This is for everyone here,” I said. “For the way we stuck together, worked as a team, honored the fallen, and put an end to another satanic plan.” Tired, but strong faces all gazed back at me. “I’m proud of every one of you,” I told them. “Cheers!”
We all toasted one another and it felt like drawing a curtain over a grim period in the Guild’s history. One that we’d all hopefully put behind us and recover from. At least until
the next.
Once the extra powers faded and the aches and pains began to worm their way into my limbs, I got Aurora to open us a portal to the Chicago Underworld. We stepped into Bracken’s palace, Tarron slung over my shoulder. Bracken was slumped in his throne as usual. On seeing us, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
“Hey, Bracken,” I said in a tired voice as I strode up to him. “Got a delivery for you.”
I laid the gibbering mess on the floor where he continued to jabber and writhe.
Bracken stomped over, his eyes fixed on Tarron, his face contorted in a snarl. He stood over Tarron, hands on hips. A frown emerged on his face as he gazed down at Tarron. “What is wrong with him?”
I shrugged. “Usual aftereffects of a demonic possession.”
“Will he recover?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Are you concerned?”
Bracken shook his head. “No, I’m not.”
I nodded. “Good. Told you everything would work out all right. And look. Not a scratch on her.” I ran my hands up and down on the air next to Aurora.
“Apart from my thumbs,” Aurora said with a chuckle, holding them up.
“Your thumbs?” Bracken echoed. “What’s wrong with them?”
“Nothing,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “All’s well that ends well. There’s no more Seventh Disciple, no more gargoyles and no more portals to any underworld areas.”
Bracken studied me. “Hmm,” he said, stroking his beard.
I met his stare. “What?”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re keeping something from me?”
“’Cause you’re paranoid?”
“Gabe’s right, Father,” Aurora piped up. “We saved the day again. We’re actually getting quite good at it.”
Bracken’s back stiffened. “I hope not! There’ll be no more saving the world for you.”
Aurora rolled her eyes and I rubbed my head. “You have no sense of adventure do you, Bracken?”
“Adventure is for the foolhardy,” he replied. He clicked his fingers. “Guards, take this scum away to the deepest part of the privy gaol for Fishstink to take care of.” The guards raced over and hoisted Tarron up from the floor, who continued on with his maniacal ramblings.