by SJB Gilmour
‘Coppernick,’ Oliver began, ignoring Melanie for the moment. ‘You’ve got the nature of a saint. Healing is your true calling. I know all these destructive spells I’ve been teaching you may seem a little depressing, but think of it this way — The first step in healing a patient is understanding why he’s sick in the first place. If he’s old and sick, you need to understand how he got that way. That’s what I taught you this morning. Last week I taught you how to flay a man’s skin from him. Now that you know all about skin, you know how to heal it.’ He nodded at Melanie. ‘You still got the scars from the troll?’ he asked her.
Melanie nodded. She stood and turned around and pulled up her shirt to display her back.
Oliver waved at Sarah. ‘Go on,’ he urged her. ‘They’re not fresh, I’ll grant you, but the theory is the same.’
Sarah concentrated and focused her attention on the four diagonal scars on her friend’s pale back. ‘Santicularus!’ she commanded again. Perhaps because the damage was not so great, or possibly because she was getting used to the whole thing, this time, Sarah did not feel so dizzy.
Melanie cried out. The scars faded then disappeared completely. She squirmed and frantically tried to scratch her healed skin.
‘That itches!’
‘Careful!’ Angela advised her niece. ‘Newly healed skin is delicate.’ She looked at Sarah. ‘Next time, try Benjamin’s variation, the numbicularus spell. That way, the subject shouldn’t feel a thing.’ She frowned. ‘I rarely bother with it myself, but then I’m not a healer.’
And so, Sarah’s studies continued. Benjamin, James, Susan and David regularly sent letters via Certified Pixie Mail though these were scant comfort to having them really there. The news that Benjamin had been unable to find any trace of The Babylonian Heresies in King Solomon’s mine didn’t help either. Sarah missed her friends terribly. She often wondered about Ronald the gnome. No word had come from him since Benjamin had taken him to Gnumphlatia. Sarah desperately hoped nothing bad had happened to him.
In those months that passed, Sarah had also come to know Oliver. The man was certainly brilliant – far smarter than James or Uncle Benjamin but he did have a most annoying personality. He was prone to dark moods and often spent days at a time locked up in his observatory away from the girls. Other times, he would disappear from the island completely, going in search of yet another tome that might offer some new insight to what lay in store for them all.
One day, when Sarah and Melanie arrived outside the observatory to begin their morning lesson, they got quite a surprise. As they approached the door, Sarah’s werewolf instincts told her something was terribly wrong. As Mel reached out to knock on the door, Sarah changed into her golden haired werewolf shape.
‘Look out!’ she barked and nudged her friend away from the door.
Moments later, the door exploded out-wards with a thunderous detonation. Splinters flew out into the corridor outside the entrance to the observatory and several chunks of wood landed on Sarah and Melanie. Sarah immediately bounded to her feet and stood in the doorway growling.
Inside was something neither she nor Melanie had ever seen before. A huge creature, vaguely man-shaped, though with horns and a spiked tail, stood in the middle of Oliver’s study. The creature had glowing red eyes, red skin and evil-looking black fangs. Its hands were normal as was its torso. From the waist down, it was covered in fur, much like that of a goat. On the floor around it burned a fiery nine-pointed star. That powerful enchanted design would keep the creature from escaping, but only so long as Cromwell’s concentration kept it burning and complete. One gap in the lines, one break at a join, and hell would be unleashed.
The second surprise was Oliver himself. Today he had discarded his robe and was standing, stark naked, beside the flaming nonagram.
Oliver stepped carefully around the fiery barrier surrounding the creature and walked up to Sarah.
‘Easy,’ he warned the girls, not taking his eyes off the creature. ‘This isn’t something you girls should want to mess with.’
Mel stared at the devil for a moment before she realised the strange sorcerer keeping it confined was nude.
‘Whoa!’ she protested, holding one hand up to block Oliver from her sight.
‘What is that thing?’ Sarah growled. She was quite glad she was a wolf.
‘Troy,’ Oliver barked sternly, ‘get nude or get back!’
Mel glared at Oliver for a moment then backed away to a safe distance.
‘It’s a devil,’ she told Sarah before Oliver could reply. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on the devil in the nonagram. She resolutely refused to let the naked sorcerer enter her field of vision.
‘The soul of a devil,’ Oliver corrected. ‘The longer he stays here, the stronger he’ll grow. We’re safe until he grows himself a body. Now Troy, if you’re not going to participate, can you at least identify the species?’
Melanie frowned for a moment as she stared at the hideous creature.
‘It’s a Pyronian devil,’ she replied confidently, ‘Devil Pyronius, from the desert hell of Fervensis.’ She looked the horrible beast up and down. ‘A male,’ she continued. ‘They’re lesser devils. The males are not as powerful as the females but they rate higher on Machiavelli’s Wickedness scale.’
Oliver seemed impressed. ‘Very, very good, Troy,’ he complemented her. Then he chuckled to himself. ‘And do you remember the exact MW rating?’
Mel refused to look at her naked tutor. ‘They’re about mid-way,’ she replied. ‘They’re just higher than female Og devils and just below the male Cryts. Rating one sixty-two, I think.’
‘And where on that scale is this Herpethia of yours?’
Melanie swallowed. ‘A lot higher,’ she said quietly. ‘About six or seven. There aren’t many demons that rank that high.’ She paused, thinking for a moment. ‘Below them at thirty-four are the only demons known to be poisonous to werewolves, the Felis demons of Agoniasis. They're sort of a cross-breed between cats and—’
‘Later!’ Sarah growled at her friend. Sarah growled again with her ears flat and tail down. Her hackles rose to stand on end. This creature was pure evil. The very air around it reeked of something long dead and a powerful malevolent aura emanated from it. Sarah realised that Oliver was indeed very, very powerful to be able to control such a monster.
The devil snarled. ‘Why hast thou summoned me?’ it demanded of Oliver. The air around it sparked and smoldered.
Oliver glared at the devil. ‘I wanted to introduce you to some friends of mine, Beezel.’ The air around the Master necromancer shimmered with his power. His words boomed and shook the room around them.
Beezel laughed then seemed to notice Sarah and Melanie for the first time. He started as though he had seen something truly frightening. He glanced back at Oliver.
‘The residents of my Hell know of the peril facing this world,’ he growled, though now he seemed much less sure of himself. His burning eyes kept darting back to Sarah and Melanie in confusion.
‘You recognise them already, don’t you?’ Oliver snarled.
‘The First and The Last,’ Beezel grated. Fear flickered in his fiery eyes then he steeled himself and swore at Oliver in sudden fury. ‘What dost thou want?’ the devil demanded.
‘Be nice, Beezel, or I’ll let the Golden Mane here have a go at you.’
Sarah’s heart gave a leap. She had no idea what was going on but she was certain Oliver was bluffing to get the devil to behave.
Evidently, Beezel thought so too. ‘A jest!’ he sneered. ‘That insignificant whelp is no match for me,’ he blustered, though he did take a step back to the edge of the nonagram. His eyes narrowed. ‘I answered thy call, White Viking. It would do thee well not to antagonise me.’
‘What’s going on, Cromwell?’ Melanie demanded through clenched teeth. Like Sarah, she had drawn in her power to the point that her hair was nearly standing on end. Sparks flickered up and down her entire body.
Over his shoul
der so that he wouldn’t take his eyes off the smoldering devil, Oliver explained.
‘Any demons Mautallius manages to recruit will be easy to deal with compared to these buggers. I lured this one here to show you what else you could be up against.’
Sarah growled. The power of Wolfenvald filled her being. Her golden coat began to glow as if it were liquid fire. Then the knowledge came to her. Mautallius had done more than recruit the aid of a demon. He had allowed himself to be possessed by one. Hnug.
The devil howled. ‘Mautallius!’ he bellowed scathingly. ‘Thou wouldst accuse me of obeying that worm? He is no more to me than dirt! I wouldst not stoop so low!’ The devil spat globs of fire in contempt for their enemy.
Oliver grinned. ‘So you know him,’ he accused.
‘Aye and even that acquaintance is worth no pride.’ He shrugged then and with unexpected humility admitted, ‘thou at least have singleness of purpose and morals of code. Though we stand now as enemies, I can respect such as thou. Mautallius wouldst consort with demons. He has no honour.’ His mouth wrinkled with disdain.
Sarah was surprised. The last thing she expected from this wicked creature was any sort of code of ethics.
Finally, Oliver smiled. ‘Enemies we are, Beezel,’ he admitted, ‘though the fight that’s coming my way isn’t your concern.’ He waved at Sarah behind him. ‘When the time comes, the Golden Mane will be able to squash you like a bug. If I were you, I’d stay out of it.’
‘Thou assumes too much,’ Beezel spat. ‘The outcome of thy struggle is yet to be decided. I believe thou shalt fail and will watch the coming events with great relish.’ He raised one long-nailed finger and pointed at Oliver. ‘And when thou dost, I will be there to reward thee for thy trickery in luring me here.’
The furious devil was growing larger as his power strengthened.
‘Thank you, Beezel,’ Cromwell told him coldly. ‘Now it’s time for you to go home. We can’t have you getting too strong here now can we?’
‘Wait!’ Sarah barked. She padded forward to face the angry devil. ‘You know Mautallius,’ she stated coldly.
Beezel grinned wickedly. Every second his semblance remained in Oliver’s study, the stronger he became.
‘Aye werewolf,’ he replied.
‘Then you know he’s possessed by Hnug.’
‘Aye,’ Beezel said again.
‘What sort of demon is this Hnug?’
The question seemed to surprise the angry devil. ‘Thou knowest not?’ he scoffed. ‘Then thy cause is all the more likely to fail. Perhaps I should join with Herpethia after all.’
‘Answer her question!’ Mel yelled at the angry devil.
Beezel turned to regard Melanie. ‘A bold order for one not prepared to take adequate precautions for such a meeting,’ he snarled and took a menacing step towards her. ‘To borrow your juvenile phrasing, come here and say that.’
Mel swore, frustrated at being forced to remove her clothing. She could have backed away from the approaching devil of course, but Mel was no less willing to back down from a fight than Sarah. She hurried to one corner of the room and quickly stripped off, making sure her amulet was buried under her top. She didn’t know if Cromwell knew she had the other half of the Star of Planes, but she wasn’t about to give the game away.
Once she was naked, she returned to the nonagram, muttering a powerful necromantic protection charm to herself. Beezel’s wicked eyes widened in surprise as he saw her calling his bluff. Then, as calmly as if she was simply walking from one part of a room to another, the slight girl walked through the flames on the floor to face the enormous and very smelly devil. She stared at him, completely unafraid, and more than a little angry.
‘Mel, what are you doing—?’ Sarah whined.
‘Shh,’ Oliver hushed her, shocked at his student’s audacity. ‘She’s committed now and I have to concentrate. She’s taken over the bloody control spells! I’m not even holding that nonagram in place any more — it’s all her. Be ready… If she drops her guard, and I’m not quick enough to pick up the spell, there’s gonna be a fight.’
Sarah growled, allowing the power of Wolfenvald to fill her. She began to glow with fiery golden light. Oliver swore and stepped back from her warily.
‘Alright,’ Mel told Beezel flatly. ‘I’m here. She asked you a question.’ Her voice was quiet and calm, but her body flickered with raw power. She casually grasped one of the sizzling sparks of energy and crushed it up into a ball of glowing power, roughly the size of a golf ball. ‘Well?’
Beezel backed off to the far edge of the nonagram and swallowed nervously.
‘I’d answer the question if I were you, old boy,’ Oliver advised him. Now that he was over his surprise, he was relishing the spectacle in front of him.
‘Very well,’ Beezel grated. ‘A more fitting opponent thou could not have hoped for.’ His voice was lowered to a malevolent purr. ‘Hnug and his twin Hnag are the servants of mine cousin, Herpethia. Once a demon, she is now a devil. She has her own army of demons and though my brethren and I wouldst never join her, we watch her with glee. She will soon elevate Hnug and Hnag to Devildom as reward for their service and in that moment thy pitiful Earth is doomed.’
‘Why won’t you join her?’ Mel demanded.
Beezel snorted with disdain. ‘She and her foul cohorts are beneath us. ‘Tis not her place to recruit our help. Rather, it is she who should do our bidding, should we require it, which we do not. All we strive to do, we can achieve quite well without her aid.’ His tone was scathing and arrogant.
‘We’ve studied demons,’ Sarah growled at him. ‘What’s their species?’
Beezel started, his eyes flicking from Sarah to Melanie and back.
Mel bounced the ball of energy in her hand suggestively. ‘You’re not too bright, are you?’ Mel sneered at him. She drew her arm back in readiness to throw the ball of energy at the devil.
Beezel put one arm up to shield his face. ‘They are but Pythos Demons, Daughter of Troy,’ he replied nervously. ‘And when they have been deified and are unleashed upon thy planet. Mate with Herpethia, they will and upon your world, an entire race of devils shall they unleash!’ His eyes gleamed with wickedness.
‘That’s about enough of this,’ Cromwell muttered, ‘I’m taking over... Enough!’ he suddenly bellowed. He pushed his hands out, projecting his power to take back control of the nonagram. He then barked several commands in Magaeic and Beezel and the fire around him disappeared. The unpleasant odour Beezel had brought with him however, did not vanish. Oliver’s observatory still reeked.
‘About time you got over this nonsense about clothes, Troy,’ Cromwell told Melanie as he dressed himself.
Mel glared at him but said nothing. She casually threw the ball out of a window and went to dress herself. From the courtyard outside, there was a loud noise of a large explosion and the entire tower shook.
‘How come every nasty thing you bring in here stinks?’ Sarah grumbled. She resumed her human form. To her human nose, the smell was not so bad as it had been to her wolf’s sensitive nostrils, but it was still quite repulsive.
‘That,’ Oliver said, ‘was Beezel.’
Both girls then took their customary places at their desks.
‘And that was the most irresponsible thing I think I’ve ever seen anyone do!’ Angela yelled at him as she appeared in the study. Then she grimaced as the lingering stench of the devil assaulted her nostrils. ‘How could you send a child into a nonagram to meet with a devil?’
Oliver looked at her calmly. ‘How could I not? Besides, I didn’t send her. She just did it on her own. Perfectly too, I might add. Not a line out of place.’ He glanced at Mel. ‘Well done, by the way, Troy. Well done.’ He turned back to Angela. ‘Anyway, I had everything under control. He’s only a Pyronian devil. It’s not like I brought in a Lucifex devil.’ Oliver scratched his chin thoughtfully. ‘You know,’ he mused, ‘I’m not sure how strong Herpethia is now that she’s been made a devil, b
ut she can’t be that strong or she wouldn’t need help getting here.’
Angela was shaking with fury. ‘You should have at least waited until I was here to help if he’d broken free,’ she grated.
Oliver looked insulted. ‘Broken free? From me? A lesser devil?’ He gave a derisive snort and shook his head in mock disbelief. ‘You don’t get it do you?’ He waved negligently at Sarah and Melanie. ‘Even if he had, these two could have handled old Beezel. Troy marched in and met him on his own turf and scared him silly, and Coppernick,’ and he waved at Sarah who flushed guiltily, ‘just about set fire to the joint just by sitting there. I could’ve gone for a nap.’
He shrugged the matter off. ‘Never mind all that anyway. We got what we wanted. It’s results that matter. The good thing about old Beezel is that he always has his ear to the ground. He knows just about everything that’s going on within hellish society. I just wanted to know which side the devils are taking. If Beezel wouldn’t saddle himself with Mautallius then none of his kind will.’ He then grinned at Sarah. ‘That was a good call, Coppernick. Asking him what species they are like that. Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought. Pythos demons are nasty buggers. We’d have had our work cut out for us if we hadn’t found that out. Now we know what Mautallius is in league with, we’re better equipped.’
‘You couldn’t trust that thing as far as you could spit it,’ Angela scoffed, though her anger seemed to have dissipated.
‘Ahh,’ Oliver said raising one finger, ‘not so. We know what Herpethia is. She’s a devil, and we know what her soldiers are. This Hnag and Hnug are Pythos demons, and if they’re her right-hand men, then Herpethia’s followers Beezel mentioned, have to be less powerful then they are.’ He shrugged. ‘Yes, old Beezel probably would kill me in a flash if he had half the chance. That’s his nature. However, in a strange way, you can trust him. Most devils have a very strong moral code. They’re quite proud of it. They think of demons as little better than dogs or slaves. Anyone who would ally himself with a demon isn’t worth spit in the eyes of a devil. You should know that.’ He grinned.