by Jamie Davis
“I think we are about ready to go,” Kurt said. “I don’t suppose you have any word on where your people might have retreated to?”
Cappo shrugged. “There are still a few towns and villages in the free zone they might have used for a defensive position after being pushed back. It’s hard to say. When you come out of the Gateway and get your bearings, I’d head east. The demons seem mostly to come from the west and south.”
“I guess that will have to be good enough. I think the two ladies and I are ready to leave, then.” Kurt walked over to Cappo and extended his hand. “A deal is a deal. We’re here and ready to go on this mission. Release me from the blood debt and tell all your clan members about it before I leave.”
“Already done. I sent a message out to the clan this morning. The price on your head is lifted.”
“Good enough,” Kurt said, nodding. “Then I guess there’s nothing else to do but head out and get this mission over with. We’ll deliver the glaive to the freedom fighters. After that, it’ll be up to them to fight the battle for their world.”
“No one expects you to stay and fight, Kurt,” Cappo said. “Just go in, deliver the glaive, and come back out. Once the soldiers there have the glaive, they’ll be able to use the holy weapon to turn the tide of the war.”
Kurt, Marci, and Jonesey loaded up with their gear and turned to stand before the portal. Starting with Kurt, one by one, they passed through the gateway to the other side.
In the back corner of the room, behind Cappo, a shadow on the wall shifted to one side. It expanded into a three dimensional humanoid shape. As it walked forward, it turned from shadow to reality as color seeped back in like someone pouring dye into a glass of water.
Cappo turned to face the figure. “I did as you wanted. I lured them through the gateway to the demon world. Now it is time for you to keep your side of the bargain, Harshad.”
The creature stepped into the light, its perfect, smooth skin gleaming pure white. It had black, bat-like wings stretched out to either side of its body. “Your payment is already here. I have had my minions drop it off at your little food shop on the other side of this disgusting, human town.”
Cappo tapped a few keys on his wrist comp, sending a message to his deli. A single word returned to hover over his wrist.
“Yes.”
“Well,” Cappo said. “I hope you manage to get what you want from them. To be honest, I will be glad to see all of them go. I hope you make it so they never return. When will you go after them?”
“I must remain here until they clear the other side of the gateway. It wouldn’t do for them to see me. They’d recognize me on sight and suspect I was involved with the whole plot to bring them there.”
Cappo shrugged as he headed for the stairs. “Suit yourself. Do me a favor and turn the light off before you leave.”
Chapter 9
Kurt emerged from the far side of the gateway into a large cavern. Opposite the portal, he could see daylight streaming in a jagged opening. Kurt moved in that direction to cover his friends as they came through the portal behind him.
When he reached the opening and stared out at the open and barren landscape stretching out before him. Kurt could not see vegetation of any kind no matter where he looked. All he saw were yellow, red, and brown rocks, stone, and sand as far as the eye could see.
“What’s it look like, K.C.?” Marci asked.
“Not much. The good news is, I don’t see any demons wandering around, though I’m not sure I know what I’m looking for.”
Jonesey stepped up behind him. “Believe me, you’ll know a demon when you see one. Let’s try to avoid that at all costs, though. They come in all sizes in most worlds they inhabit. You’ll see them the size of small rabbits, all the way up to five to ten meters tall.”
“I don’t know about you,” Marci said. “But the thought of a tiny rabbit demon kind of freaks me out.”
Kurt laughed. “Kind of like the rabbit monster in the Holy Grail.” He picked up the glaive and pointed with the spiked tip out to the land stretching before him. “Let’s get moving while we still have some daylight. Cappo told us to head east so that’s what we’ll do.”
Kurt checked his wrist comp for a directional reading based on magnetic north in this world. Then he picked the direction roughly eastward from there and started out from the cavern entrance.
It was rough going. The ground was broken and uneven. The cracked ground seemed as if it hadn’t rained here for years.
On more than one occasion, each of them stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Kurt realized they would not make as good a time as he would like. Based on what Cappo had told him, he figured the battle lines had shifted about ten kilometers away from the cavern entrance. He’d hoped to make it to the rebels’ encampment by nightfall. Now he wasn’t sure they’d be able to pull it off in two or three days, let alone an afternoon.
Of course that didn’t consider dodging demons in the process.
Jonesey was the first to spot the demon patrol in the distance. She hissed a warning at them. “Get down.”
Kurt and Marci were both well-trained enough to comply right away. The two of them crouched, weapons held at the ready, and scanned the area around them for danger.
Jonesey moved up next to them and pointed northward. Kurt scanned the rocky ridge line in that direction. It took him a few seconds but then he saw a flicker of movement.
“Damn, those demons are practically the same color as the rocks. How the hell did you spot them so quickly, Jonesey?”
“I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have. The trick is to watch for movement. You can’t trust your eyes to pick out shapes the way you would in a more human world.”
“This will take some getting used to.” Marci said. She’d turned to look behind them. “It’s going to be pretty easy for them to sneak up on us if we can’t see them coming.”
“Well, lucky for you I am around to watch your butts.” Jonesey let out a little chuckle as she said it, but Kurt knew she was serious. He was thankful once again she’d chosen to come along.
Kurt pointed to a cluster of rocks about fifty meters away that formed a sheltered spot where they could hide from any passing demons. “Let’s head over there and wait for the patrol to pass by. Stay low and try to keep behind cover. We should be able to make it without any of them spotting us.”
The trio headed in the direction Kurt indicated, moving from rock to rock until they reached the cluster of boulders. Kurt sat down and leaned up against the side of one of the rocks. He drank from his canteen and took a few bites from a ration bar.
Marci stood by the entrance to their small hideout, scanning the countryside in the direction Jonesey had seen the patrol.
“Can you see them?” Kurt asked.
“I can now. I never would’ve spotted them until it was too late, however. Jonesey, you really saved our asses.”
“Don’t I always? I mean, you keep coming back and buying my gear, so I’m guessing it’s doing the trick and keeping you safe.”
“Yours is the best stuff around,” Kurt remarked. “Without you in Baltimore, I’m not sure I would have been able to start my little business as a portal courier.”
Marci turned away from the opening and sat down. She dug in her pack until she pulled out a plastic bag of granola. As she crunched at a few handfuls, she shook her head. “If we have to keep stopping to avoid patrols, it’s going to take us a long time to get to the rebel encampment.”
“That’s what I was worried about, too,” Kurt said. “We’ll just have to figure out a way to camp safely for the night since we will never make it to a human settlement before then. As we move forward from here, let’s keep our eyes open for defensible, sheltered locations that might be a good spot for us to hideout.”
“What’s it like fighting a demon, Jonesey?” Marci asked.
“As you saw with the guy we found outside the portal back on Earth Prime, their claws and teeth can
do significant damage, even through the strongest body armor. The trick is to kill them when they first come at you. There’s always some vulnerable area on them. The trick is figuring out where it is.”
“Great, so I will have to guess,” Marci said.
Kurt pointed at her double tomahawks. “I guess you could just take a stab at it.”
Marci groaned at his joke. “Good one, K.C. I love how you manage to tell a joke or two at times like this.”
“Hey, we’re all in this together.” Kurt stood and moved over to the entrance to check on the progress of the demon patrol. They had moved parallel to their position towards the west. They were almost out of sight beyond a ridge that extended from the north to the south.
“We should be able to move again soon. Jonesey you keep your eyes open. It looks like we will rely on your superior Elven eyesight to get us through to the rebel encampment in one piece.”
“It’s going to take all three of us,” Jonesey said. “You both need to keep your eyes open, too.”
Kurt slid his arms back into his backpack and settled it over his shoulders. He grabbed the glaive from where he’d leaned it up against a boulder and pointed outside.
“Time to get moving. Marci, you take the lead. Your eyes are better than mine. I’ll go second and keep an eye on our flanks. Jonesey, watch our backs and cover the other directions as you can.”
The two women gathered their gear and joined him outside of their hiding place. Marci started towards the east with Kurt right behind her. Jonesey brought up the rear.
Despite the precautions and care with which the trio traveled through the broken landscape, it was nobody’s fault an hour later when two scaly demons leaped from behind a rock outcropping to attack them. There was no warning at all.
The first one knocked Marci to the ground. The second one landed on Kurts back, knocking him to his knees.
Jonesey swatted at the one on Kurt’s back with her long sword. She knocked it loose. It was about the size of a German Shepherd. Kurt got his first good look at a demon up close. It had six legs, each ending in razor sharp talons. Its hide was covered in reddish brown scales.
He used the shaft of the glaive to lever himself back to his feet. Jonesey seemed to have the one who’d knocked him taken care of, so he turned and stabbed forward with the spike at the end of the glaive, plunging it into the back of the creature on top of Marci.
He pierced its scaled hide, but didn’t cause significant damage. He did however manage to knock it off the top of his friend.
Jonesey fended off the other demon with her long sword and dagger.
Marci scrambled to her feet coming up with a tomahawk in each hand. As the demon charged in at her, she danced to one side and hacked down with both hands at the back of its scaly neck.
The creature let out a screeching snarl and turned to swipe at Marci with one of its claws. She jumped back just in time to avoid being gutted by the attack.
While Marci distracted the demon, Kurt chopped down at the creature’s back with the glaive. He noticed the metal axe blade and spike at the end of the shaft. They were shimmering in the sunlight.
The effect was much more than just a reflection. The holy magic had been invoked. He was sure the weapon would have more of an effect this time.
He was right. The axe head sank into the creature’s back, severing its spine and causing the rear four legs to collapse under it. With its rear two thirds paralyzed, the demon tried to pull itself away into the rocks from which it had come.
Marci wasn’t about to let that happen. Leaping forward, she jumped in front of the creature and hacked down at its head with her tomahawks.
Seeing Marci had things in hand, Kurt turned to help Jonesey. He needn’t have worried. Jonesey was sitting on top of the beheaded demon cleaning blood from her long sword blade.
“That was exciting,” Jonesey remarked.
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Kurt said. “What are we going to do if we get attacked by a larger group.”
“We’ll kill them, that’s what,” Marci said coming over from the body of the first demon to attack them.
“Your boundless enthusiasm never ceases to amaze me, Marci,” Kurt said.
“Just trying to pull my share of the load, K.C.”
“We should get moving. This blood will draw more demons to this area.” Jonesey pointed to the east. “Look, I see movement in that direction already.”
“Damn, that’s going to cut us off. We’re going to have to try to circle around them. That’s going to eat up more time,” Kurt said.
Marci looked around. “Which way do we go?”
“North,” Kurt said, pointing in that direction. “Take the lead again, Marci. Let’s try to pick up the pace a little and put some distance between us and these bodies.”
The party set out northward this time. Marci moved as quickly as she could given the broken terrain they crossed.
Kurt checked back over his shoulder several times. He could see movement converging on the location of the demon attack from the west now, too. He could only hope there weren’t also demons moving down from ahead of them.
“They’re like sharks, aren’t they?” Kurt said. “It’s like they can sense the tiniest amounts of blood scent in the air.”
“That’s probably true,” Jonesey said. “That’s why I wanted to get moving. While I know general things about demons from several worlds, each of them are a little different. Here, though, I was right.”
Kurt nodded, thanking their luck again that the elf was accompanying them on this delivery. He wasn’t sure he and Marci would’ve been able to make it this far without her.
A thought occurred to him. “Hey, Jonesey, you haven’t had one cigarette since I picked you up this morning. I’m really surprised. I’ve never seen you without one.”
“It’s not like I’m addicted. Nicotine isn’t addictive to elves. I just like the taste.”
“Ewww,” Marci said. “Somehow that’s even worse. Honestly, hon, the smell of the cigarettes in your place makes me have to take a shower every time I come over to pick up gear from you.”
Jonesey shrugged. “Sorry, my house, my rules.”
Kurt chuckled as the two women continued their friendly banter while they trekked east. He scanned the eastern horizon for anything that might indicate a potential place to hole up for the night. They were not making it all the way to the rebel camp tonight.
He was so intent on studying the terrain in the distance, he did not see the tripwire until it was too late. He let out a yelp and then the trap swept his feet out from under him. Kurt fell hard on his side. His head smacked against the stone ground and darkness closed in. The shouts of his companions combined with the clang of steel on steel around him before he lost consciousness.
Chapter 10
Kurt gasped and sat upright, staring around his surroundings with a panicked feeling. His mind struggled to process what he saw.
A campfire glowed nearby. Shadowed figures hunched over and around it. Voices, human voices laughing at something he couldn’t understand.
“Where am I?”
A familiar voice sounded to his right. “It’s all right K.C., they’re friends.” Kurt jerked backward as a figure moved into view next to him. It took him a moment to realize it was Marci.
“I heard fighting as I fell. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“Be thankful you remember anything at all, sonny,” a gruff voice said to his left. Kurt stared at a squat little man perched on a rock next to him. He reached out and placed a cold compress on Kurt’s forehead, replacing the one that had been there. The man’s touch was surprisingly gentle.
The cool, damp cloth felt good on his head. “Thank you,” Kurt said.
“No problem. I’m glad you’re finally up and about. Your two friends were quite worried about you.”
“Thanks for helping us with him, Doc,” Marci said.
The little man grumbled a reply, saying so
mething under his breath. He turned around and moved over closer to the fire. Kurt stared around him trying to place their location. It looked like they were in a cave or cavern of some sort.
“Is it smart to have a fire?” He asked.
Jonesey stepped over into the firelight from the side.
“This place is sheltered enough to allow it, Kurt. We’re with a small group of stranded rebels. They’ve been here for a few days and are so far unmolested.”
There was a chuckle from one of the figures around the fire pit. He was a rather large round fellow with the bald head. “I wouldn’t mind being molested a little to be honest with you.”
Another figure nudged him with an elbow. “In your dreams, Curly.”
“Hey, sometimes a dream is all you’ve got. A man’s got to have something to live for.”
“Dreaming is for suckers,” another of the figures said as he stood up. Kurt realized that he had to be well over two meters tall. The taller man pointed over his shoulder towards the cave’s mouth with his thumb. “We ain’t got no time for dreams. We are all going to die here and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Come on, Stretch, you don’t have to be such a downer all the time, do you?” Curly asked. “You don’t hear Fish or Smalls here talking like that.”
Stretch turned and spat on the floor next to the fire. “Fish and Smalls haven’t seen what I’ve seen. We were doomed the minute we got separated from the rest of the unit. The fact that we’ve managed to stay alive this long will not change anything.” The tall man turned and walked into the shadows at the far side of the cave, disappearing from view.
Kurt glanced at Marci. “Where are we? Are we close to the rebel army’s lines?”
“We’re not sure. As you heard, this squad of soldiers got separated from their unit somehow during the fighting. They broke away from pursuing demons that chased them. They’ve been hiding here ever since. That trip wire you fell over triggered a trap they set to catch any demons approaching the entrance to this cave.”