Arise

by Michael Dean

  I disregarded his question and walked away from him, re-entering the home. I walked into the kitchen, opening cabinet after cabinet, hoping to find what I was looking for. Lo and behold I found it…maple syrup. I giggled to myself as I picked it up and hurried back outside.

  I quickly approached Billy again and showed him the syrup in my hand. He looked confused, not sure why the hell I had common maple syrup—that is until he saw me kicking up mound after mound of fire ant hills that were all over the property.

  “Don’t do that! Please, don’t do that!”

  I guess he figured out what I was going to do. Thousands of ants spewed out of the mounds and covered the ground around us in seconds. I started pouring a trail of maple syrup from the mounds, straight to the stranded Billy. Covering his feet first, then his legs, and then capped it off by squirting a ton of it on top of his head, letting it run down his face and onto his chest. Once the bottle emptied, I tossed it to the side.

  Fire ants aren’t exactly a threat to killing a human, even if they’re bit a thousand times and the person is allergic. It’s highly unlikely that one can die from fire ant bites. But they do sting like heck, and then itch like crazy according to a source of mine, Scruffy. He’s always complaining about getting into fire ant piles when he’s out in his yard messing around.

  “You bastard, oh you bastard.” He shook his head, more frustrated now than scared.

  “I’m a demon, Billy-boy, not a saint, enjoy your night,” I concluded as I began to walk away from him. “Oh, and by the way, if you ever hurt, or get near that girl and that little boy again, I’m coming back for you, and next time I won’t be so nice. Understand?” I pointed to him.

  He nodded his head up and down, repeating the word “yes” over and over again. I snarled at him and turned to walk away from the half naked, syrup drenched redneck. As I headed back into the woods, I could hear Billy complaining about the ants.

  I chuckled to myself about his payback. I was gloating inside about my work when I saw a figure standing clear across the field behind the old house on the outskirts of the woods. It wiped the smile right off my face and stopped me in my tracks. We locked eyes and glared at one another for a few seconds. It wasn’t Agrelia, but it was something almost as sinister, something like me. It was another Drift Demon. I guess Billy the Bully was a job for him that I more than likely just messed up. He knew what I was as well and sneered at me. I wasn’t supposed to be on his turf.

  I nodded at him in respect, letting him know that I was passing through. He frowned at me and walked back into the woods. I headed into the foggy forest at a much faster pace, not only because I knew that I had to get back to finding Agrelia, although I knew I missed the portal, but also because I didn’t want that Drift Demon to change his mind about my presence on his “jobsite.”

  Now…I didn’t know what to do next.

  Chapter 8

  HELP

  I wandered, for what felt like hours, through the woods and came up completely empty. I walked, flew, even hopped from tree to tree to get back on the scent and yet, nothing. I haven’t the foggiest about where Agrelia went to next. She could be anywhere in the world by now. I began to think the wisest thing for me to do at this point was regroup, fly back home, and see what else I could come up with. I was so frustrated by the thought of having to throw in the towel that I punched a hole through the center of a tree.

  Giving up for now, I carefully took to the skies in order to head back to Colorado. But the moment I became airborne, I noticed something bright, gleaming, shimmering a little deeper into the woods. This was something so bright that I could see it from the sky. How could I not see it from the ground when I was all around that very section? I thought nothing more about it and headed back down to the ground to see what had caught my eye.

  I landed about twenty or thirty yards away from the glowing object that hovered above the ground about shoulder high. It looked like a star in the night sky except that it was right in front of me and much brighter. I guess because I was so close to it. It certainly wasn’t a Hell or Heaven portal, at least any that I had ever seen, but it was something supernatural. That much I could sense. It didn’t have the feel of anything evil, either. I didn’t detect a single wave of negativity radiating from it. There was something weird about being in the presence of it though, not a single owl, or cricket, or animal of any kind could be heard. It was dead quiet.

  Very reluctantly I kept inching towards the star-like object. I looked around as I did, searching for any unforeseen surprises that may jump out to attack me, but again, I didn’t detect any presence other than my own. The bright light was very hard to look at once I got within a few feet of it. Now that I was close, I noticed that it pulsated and spun around. I cautiously walked completely around the thing while still keeping a steady eye on any happenings around me.

  After I did the three-sixty, I stopped, analyzed it a little further, and then slowly stepped up next to it. Now I was right up on the thing. Not sure what else I could do, I reached out to touch it. When my finger entered the core of the light, I could feel electricity shooting through my finger right before it filled my entire body. The next thing I knew I was engulfed by the light, everywhere around me was white as I soared through some kind of tunnel at a speed faster than I could fly. Before I knew it I could see objects coming into view, it seemed I was approaching an exit at the end of this strange tunnel.

  Once I saw this earthly landscape in clearer form, I was shot out into it, hitting the ground in a roll. When I stopped tumbling, I spit out grains of sand that had filled my mouth and brushed off more from my body. When I finished, I looked around to get my bearings.

  I was in a desolate, desert-like landscape, surrounded by white sand dunes as far as my eyes could see. There wasn’t a tree, bush, home, or being in site. I couldn’t be clear if I was even on earth still, although it did appear to be some sort of earth-like location. But I couldn’t be sure.

  Then, a very familiar voice called out behind me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  It was indeed Agrelia.

  “This is impossible. You could not have found me here. There is only one that can enter here freely that isn’t Christian, and it is me. Not even council members have ever entered here without my say so, my personal plane between earth and hell. How could this be? How did you get here…a Drift Demon?” She seemed just as confused as I was.

  I thought it best to keep things a secret about how I arrived, so I told her nothing.

  “That really doesn’t matter now…does it? I’m here.”

  “You missed the earth portal. You were late. You shouldn’t…you are not allowed to be here!” she barked as she came towards me from off the top of a dune close by.

  She did have a point. Something had to have aided me in finding her. This place wasn’t of earth, according to her words. Being a Drift Demon, I can only remain in the physical world, not a spiritual one. Or so I thought.

  “There is no portal, anywhere, either side can make that I know of that can take you here. Only I can open, enter, and close the portal to my world! How did you do this?” She approached, grabbing me by my throat.

  “Like I said,” I smacked her arm hard enough to release her grip on my throat, “I’m here. It doesn’t matter how, I just am.” I balled up a fist and punched her in the chest, sending her crashing back into the dune behind her.

  She was completely livid now as she stood back up and primped herself.

  “No more game playing. You have sealed your fate, Leo. You’ve come into my home, where I am at my strongest. This all ends now.”

  All of a sudden Agrelia changed and contorted. She stretched taller. Horns grew from out of her ears. Her dress ripped off, revealing bronze, fish-like scales. A tale grew out and extended upon the ground behind her. Even her hands became bonier and grew to a massive size. Her nails stretched out to at least six inches long, ending in a sharp point. Her face transfigured into the permanent form of
the siren scream look. This was Agrelia’s true form; her demonic, hell-bound profile was now fully on display in front of me, something she couldn’t do on the earthly plane.

  “You have the worst case of reverse beer goggles I’ve ever seen,” I jeered.

  “Glad you think staring into your death is funny,” her voice boomed. It was deep and gurgled.

  “Oh, it’s not funny, it’s hideous.” I vibrated my head and shoulders in disgust as I teased her further. Making fun of her probably wasn’t the best move on my part, but I couldn’t resist.

  Her large webbed foot, led by three pointed toes, came at me slowly, kicking white sand as they did. When she stood, she towered over me, growing to at least eight feet tall. She chuckled looking down at me.

  Wasting no time, I went on the offense and threw a punch aimed at her nose. As fast as I was, she was faster, catching my fist in the ball of her cold palm inches from her face. She growled at me before laughing.

  “My turn.”

  With little effort, the Hell Siren picked me up by the arm, with my fist still in her clutch, and grabbed me at my waist, hoisting me up like the Stanley Cup above her head. Again, with relative ease, she tossed me through the air. I rifled towards a dune several yards away. Thinking quick, I extended my wings just before I hit it, slowing myself enough to somersault around and shoot back at Agrelia.

  I thought I made an awesome counter move and was feeling good about flying into her with a punch. But right before I made contact, she let out a short burst of her scream, almost like a chirp. I have never heard, or heard of, Agrelia doing this call before. When it sounded, it completely disoriented me, causing me to fly a little off course. Agrelia shifted to the side, almost letting me pass, but instead grabbed me by both wings, whirling me through the air and slamming me head first into the sand.

  Without skipping a beat, she grabbed my legs, pulling me back out of the sand and hurled me into another dune, back first. I couldn’t recover fast enough before she was on me again, pulling me out. She held me by my collar and began beating me like a piñata. During the pummeling, I couldn’t help but think to myself that there was no way I could beat her, and if I couldn’t get past her, imagine how difficult Shimmer and Christian would be if they’re more powerful than her. The way things were looking, it seemed that an encounter with the other two council members was a pipe dream.

  The scenario of her beating me, tossing me, beating me, then tossing me again, played itself out over and over. Every time I tried to mount some offense against her she was always one step ahead of me and twice as fast getting to it. She would also do that chirp call and it would completely lock me up. I got to the point where I was so weak I couldn’t muster any defense to stop her onslaught. Finally, lying half buried, face up in the sand, she gave me a break from my butt whipping and walked away. I was so exhausted I couldn’t even lift my head to see where she went. It didn’t take long to find out.

  When I could finally rise up enough to take a peek, I saw her marching towards me with purpose, the Demon Dagger in hand. She loomed over me, placing her tripod of a foot square in my chest, pinning me back down into the sand.

  “And so the run of the love-smitten demon boy comes to an end. What a pity, I think I can actually hear Shade’s heart breaking.” She grinned.

  “You leave her name out of it. She has nothing to do with this.”

  “Poor naïve Leo, too stupid to realize that he drug her into this when he defied Christian’s and Lord Bellock’s will. She knows too much. When I’m finished with you, Shimmer has an inclination to make her one of his undead mistresses.” She chuckled.

  “Don’t you touch her!”

  “I’m afraid it is out of your hands. Besides, you won’t be around anyway…erased from existence…and Shade will serve Shimmer for e-ter-nit-y.”

  The thought of that enraged me. I hated picturing the cocky Vampire Lord forcing her to attend to his every whim. Picturing her being in that situation because of my errors was even more unbearable. Because of me she would be turned into a vampire and serve as a slave, in more ways than one. If she was serious, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t simply talk, I’d doomed the girl I loved to a fate worse than mine.

  “Goodbye, Leo.”

  Agrelia raised the dagger up above her head and thrust it down at me. I knew I had to do something in this instant or it was all over. The closest thing I could get a hold of was the center toe, on her disgusting reptilian-like foot. I grabbed it with everything I had in me—with my teeth—and bit that sucker completely off.

  My desperate move paid off. It hurt Agrelia enough to make her raise her foot a bit, thus allowing me to move over in time to watch the dagger stab into the sand just inches from my side. The Hell Siren screamed in pain as I spit out her appendage. While she took a second to analyze the damage I did, I took the opportunity to make a counter move by grabbing her leg and rolling over on it. This caused her to fall. I hopped up on my feet and grabbed the Demon Dagger. I didn’t want this thing anywhere near me, and since it was of no use in killing Agrelia, because she could only be defeated by decapitation, I chucked it as hard and far as I could. This bought me more time to fight.

  When I turned back, I was too late. I was met with a fist to my chin, which launched me into the air. While in mid-air she jumped up and met me, grabbing me around my waist and forcing me back to the ground. We crashed into the sand, almost completely submerging beneath the white powder.

  Again, I was outmatched. She sat on my chest and severely assaulted me. I don’t think there was an inch of my entire upper torso that she didn’t hit at least ten times. It was obvious that my toe-chopping maneuver didn’t play to my advantage. Agrelia was more furious than she was before.

  “I am sick of you. This has gone on long enough. We’ve admired how comical your feeble attempts at freedom have become, but now it’s just getting infuriating.”

  I couldn’t say anything in reply. I was tired, battered, and beaten. I knew that I was about to lose this fight. It would only be a few more moments before she located the dagger again and used it to finish me off. I was so weak from our scuffle now that I couldn’t muster any defense. She had me just where she wanted me and there was nothing I could do to stop her from killing me. I would never see Shade again.

  After a few more blows, Agrelia realized that I was nearly finished. The urge to fight on had left me. I could barely raise my arm to clench a fist.

  “You never stood a chance, Leo. Surely you knew this. You don’t just ease through the three most powerful beings of the underworld, besides Lord Bellock, and skip away with your freedom from Hell. That is why it has never happened before…this is why it will not happen now.”

  The Goyle raised an arm into the air. I watched as out in the distance the Demon Dagger arose from out of the sand like it was magnetically attached to her hand. It hovered up about chest level and stopped. It sat there, floating in the air with the tip of the blade pointing in our direction. Agrelia looked down at my defeated, strung-out body and grinned.

  “Now, your time has come…officially. Again I say, goodbye, Leo.”

  With those words she picked me up from out of the sand, hoisting me over her shoulder like I was a bag of cement. I flopped, nearly lifeless, over her. My arms dangled behind her as I felt her arms tighten around my legs that hung in the front. She started jogging, then increased to a sprint, adjusting me when she reached full speed so that my backside slid into a position that propped me into a battering ram. She was going to slam me into the dagger in spectacular fashion. I was seconds away from complete and total death. Wiped away from history for all time; taken away from the love of my life for good.

  Feeling the wind blowing across my body from the velocity of Agrelia’s bull-rush, I braced for certain death from the piercing blow of the Demon Dagger. One of my arms fell at her side while the other slid around her neck. Suddenly I realized that the pendulum had swung in my direction one more time. With the last bit of s
trength I had in my body, I wrapped my arm around her head, pulling my other hand around in order to grab my wrist, locking her neck in my armpit like a vice. I began applying severe pressure, thrusting myself backwards, trying to rip her head off her shoulders.

  Agrelia began to struggle and cry as the tension from my hold was cutting off her ability to speak or breathe. She’d forgotten to protect the most vulnerable region on her body and the only way she could be stopped. My hold caused her to run even faster. I looked back to see the dagger barreling down on me, just yards away now. With a ferocious scream, I leaned back, pardon my expression, and gave it hell; pulling her head with everything I had left in me.

  I heard a crack before falling to the ground. Within my arm I had something; Agrelia’s head. When I hit the sandy floor, I looked up to see the hovering blade just inches away from piercing me. Agrelia’s headless cadaver fell, jumped back up, and reached for the head she no longer possessed with both arms. Then a bright light began shooting out of the hole where her head should have been. The headless body fell to its knees as light began shooting from cracks forming all over her body. I took a moment to look into my arms at the head that once belonged to the Queen of Hell. Her yellow eyes sunken in, giving way to two rays of light shooting out from within. Light then shined out of her still open mouth as well, which caused me to release it and slide backwards away from the lifeless appendage. I looked back at her torso, watching it explode into riot of light, then her head followed suit. Just like that, all went silent, it was over. I had defeated one of the most powerful beings in the spiritual world. I had won this time.

  I fell back into the sand in relief, lying there in shock. The Demon Dagger fell to the ground just out of my reach. All I had to do was reach out and take it now. I laughed out loud at the irony of how easy it was now to gain possession of the elusive weapon and at the fact that it was over. Well, step one was.

  “That’s one,” I exclaimed with a sigh, continuing to laugh at my fortune.