by Jamie Davis
Marci crouched behind a barren dried out bush and tried to think of what to do next. The campfires of the army might as well of been kilometers away. She wasn’t getting to the encampment, at least not that night.
Marci looked around for a place to hide out for the rest of the night and avoid the demons moving all around her.
The voice behind her in the dark startled her. She could still remember it as she struggled in her current captivity.
“Well, well, well, it seems we found a straggler. She’s a big one, too. I think we’ll have to take this one back from the cook pots.”
A second voice sounding like the screech of nails on a chalkboard joined the first. “She looks tender enough. Hopefully, she’s young enough that she doesn’t have that greasy aftertaste the old crusty ones do.”
Marci turned from where she crouched behind the bush. Two of the tall, horned demons stood behind her. One of them had twin horns jutting up from either side of its head just in front of its ears. His eyes glowed red in the darkness. The second one was shorter. This one had a single horn emerging up from its forehead.
Marci glanced around in desperation, searching for some place she could run and get away from them. They had her cornered.
She reached for her pistol. Marci had two shots left. With luck, she might be able to drop both and get away before help came.
Marci lunged forward with her tomahawk while she reached for her holster with her free hand.
The taller one blocked her attack with its broad-bladed battle-ax.
The second one jumped in at her from the side and, before she knew what happened, clouted her behind the ear with the butt of his spear. The last thing she remembered before waking up was the laughter of the pair as they loomed over her.
Marci woke to a swinging motion. Her head hung down while her arms were bound behind her back. She took a moment to realize she was bent over the shoulder of one demon as it walked along with its comrades. She lifted her head to look around. The demon behind her leered down in her with a smile exposing its blackened teeth.
“Hey, Crank, she’s awake.”
“Good, I’m tired of carrying her.”
The demon holding her over his shoulder stopped and put her down on the ground.
Marci swayed for a few seconds while she tried to regain her balance. She definitely had a head injury judging from the way she felt. For a few seconds her vision blurred as everything in front of her doubled.
The demon who’d been carrying her tied a rope around her waist. He handed the other end of the rope to the one behind him.
“Here, lead her on this. Make sure she doesn’t run away. Harshad wants to talk with her.”
Marci’s ears perked up. She knew that name. It was the one from her dream.
“I still don’t understand why we can’t eat her.”
“Because, Harshad says she’s important. Something she’s carrying belongs to him and he needs to see her about it.”
The demon holding Marci’s leash ground his teeth and muttered to himself as he marched again in line with his companions.
Now that Marci was upright, she was able to look around. It look like there were fifteen or twenty demons in the line. It was hard to tell in the darkness.
There was no telling how long she’d been carried. It was some distance from where she’d been caught. Marci saw no sign of the campfires behind her. She had no idea where her friends were either. At least none of them had been captured with her.
Her mind churned through questions. The first among them was, who was this Harshad? She recognized the name from her dream but it meant nothing beyond that. She wondered if it was a demon lord of some sort. Then she realized what it must be.
She tried to look around her. She no longer wore her pack and that meant one of these demons was carrying it along with the Chaos Crystal. It was likely this demon was looking for her because of her possession of the crystal. It had to be the Cardinal himself as Sarge and Curley described the previous day.
If it was the crystal, Marci didn’t understand why they didn’t just take the crystal from her and kill her out right. Something strange was going on.
The line of demons marched along in the darkness. Several times Marci stumbled over cracks in the ground she couldn’t see beneath her feet.
When she did, the demon holding her leash, just yanked it and pulled at her until she got back to her feet.
At one point, when she fell to the ground after one such stumble, the demon laughed as he dragged her along on the ground by the leash for several meters until he finally stopped and waited for her to get back to her feet. Then he started forward again, yanking on the leash once more, nearly knocking her back to the ground again.
The march in the darkness went on like this until dawn. As the sun came up over the barren and blasted landscape, Marci got a better count of the enemies in her party. There were many more than she’d expected. They must have been traveling in the darkness to either side of her group.
There were eighteen of the tall humanoid demons. They all looked vaguely alike, though some had two horns, others just one, and a few had no horns at all.
In addition to the taller demons. There were at least two separate packs of the sixer dog demons paralleling their trail on either side. She heard a couple of howling growls behind the column, too.
Hearing them led her to believe there were more sixers in a group behind them as well. Marci’s hopes of making a run for safety had dwindled to practically nothing.
With her arms tied up the way they were, she would be hard-pressed to get away under the best of circumstances. With packs of the six legged demons chasing after her as soon as she made a break for it, she’d never get away.
Marci thought about using magic but she couldn’t even access it with her hands bound behind her the way they were. She noticed both her pistol belt and tomahawks hanging from the harness of one demon marching in front of her.
At least she knew where her weapons were. Of course, they might as well have been a hundred meters away for all the good they would do her.
As the sun came up, the demons kept marching onward. They reached a section of the lava river flowing past and turned southward. Marci wondered if there was another crossing she and her companions had missed. It made sense if that was how the others were able to catch up to them in such large numbers. There was no way large groups of demons crossed over the narrow stone bridge the humans found over the lava flow.
Sure enough, they came to a broad slab of rock arching out and over the lava. It wasn’t a complete bridge, but it almost reached all the way. Far enough that it overhung the opposite side of the lava flow. Demons had stacked up rocks and boulders on the far side, connecting the other bank to the arching outcropping.
They led Marci up onto the long, flat rock. She walked across, placing her feet with care so she didn’t slip, until they reached the far side.
The demon shoved her when she paused at the end of the slab. It caused her to stumble. Marci fell as she tried to make the first step down to one of the uneven boulders stacked on the other side. She ended up tumbling all the way to the hard-packed ground below.
The demons laughed at her and she rolled on her side while she struggled to get up. The one holding her leash had just let her fall. He did nothing to stop her or help her get back up.
Marci cursed as she struggled to get back to her feet, rising at first to her knees and then lifting a foot to push herself upright. She suspected she’d cracked a rib or two on the way down the improvised bridge.
There was no way to be sure, but Marci winced as she took a breath, feeling the spasms of her muscles tightening along her bruised and probably broken rib cage. It was just one more thing that would hinder her chances for escape.
“She’s a tough ‘un,” one of the demons said, picking up her leash and handing it back to her original captor.
“Let’s hope Harshad finishes what he needs with her quickly. I’m gue
ssing her flesh isn’t all that tough, even if she acts like it is.” The demon who said it glared down at her, flashing razor-sharp teeth at her.
Marci tried to hide the shiver that passed down her spine. The Demon laughed and turned, continuing on to the west.
The other demons fell in line with Marci once again in the middle, being led on to an unknown fate.
Chapter 15
The guard at the gate hemmed and hawed as he dug at the dirt with the tip of his boot. “I don’t know, Sarge. I didn’t receive any orders about a recon team going out into the dead lands this morning. Are you sure it’s all right with the Colonel that you all head back out there? I mean, you all just got here last night.”
“Everything is on the up and up, Johnson. The Colonel wants us to go out because we were just out there and know what’s going on the best. Believe me, I think it sucks. We haven’t even been here twelve hours. He said it’s important and wants to find out if the demons that chased us here are still in the vicinity before he decides on what to do next.”
Kurt had to admit, the Sarge was a pretty smooth liar. He glanced at Jonesey. The elf stood there with a pleasant grin on her face. It looked kind of weird replacing the usual scowl he saw there.
The gate guard looked around for someone else to decide, then realized it was all up to him. “All right, Sarge. But be careful out there. We don’t want anyone else disappearing or getting lost the way you all did for those days you were missing.”
“Nothing to worry about Johnson. We all plan on coming back alive. See you later this afternoon once our patrol is done.”
The Sarge gave a half salute and returned to the squad. The two wagons being used as a gate were rolled backward creating an opening wide enough for the squad to pass through. The group nodded at the gate guards as they passed. Then they marched back outside the fort into the desolate landscape beyond the fortress walls.
The wagons creaked as they rolled shut behind them and Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. They’d done it. Sarge had gotten them outside the fort. Now they could look for Marci.
“All right Kurt,” Sarge said. “Now it’s your chance to help us find her. You said you had a way.”
“First things first, we need to go back to the last place anyone saw her. He turned to Smalls. You said something about seeing her running next to you as we headed towards the campfires after the demons caught up to us. Can you take us back to that place?”
The tiny woman nodded. “Yeah, I should be able to get us close. I may not be able to find the exact spot.”
“If you can get us close,” Stretch said. “I’d be willing to bet I can help us find the exact location. The way we were running and with all the demons closing in around us we probably left an easy trail to follow. We just need to find it and trace it back to that area.”
“Good thinking, Stretch.” Sarge turned to the rest. “Let’s pick up the pace. We don’t want the Colonel finding out about this and sending anyone out after us while they can still see us.”
With that Smalls jogged westward. The rest of the squad, along with Kurt and Jonesey, fell in the behind him. It was time to get out there and find Marci.
Stretch was right. It didn’t take them long to find their back trail. Smalls spotted the tracks first and followed it to the area where she was sure she’d last seen Marci.
The group settle down for a brief rest while Kurt prepared to do his part to identify the marks in the trail. He was still uncomfortable with what Jonesey had suggested he do.
He would have to admit a deep emotional connection to Marci with which he was still a little uncomfortable. Kurt knew he had romantic feelings for her but was conflicted because of the difference in their age and his relationship to Marci’s father.
Kurt crouch down by the footprints in the trail and closed his eyes as his hand hovered over the ground. He murmured the words of the spell Jonesey had helped him prepare and drew in magical energy to focus his power on the task ahead of him.
When Kurt opened his eyes, they blazed cobalt blue with an inner light as his magic took hold of him. His hand glowed with a blue and gold color. His palm trembled as he swept it back-and-forth over the dirt in front of him. He tried to identify which footprints or Marci’s.
Kurt remained crouched but shuffled forward his hand outstretched until he stopped. Looking down, one set of footprints had a shimmering outline around them. None of the others looked the same. He wasn’t sure how he knew it but deep in his soul he was sure those foot prints belonged to Marci.
He turned and followed the faintly outlined boot prints in the dirt as they moved away from the main trail. He found the place where Marci must’ve stumbled over a large crack in the ground. The prints disappeared for a few meters and Kurt realized she’d fallen while running past here.
This must have been where she became separated from the rest of them. Inside he cursed because it would have been easy to help her back to her feet and keep her with the group if he had only seen her fall. He clenched his fists as he berated himself inside. How could he have let this happen?
A voice next to him steadied his focus again. “No time for regrets, Kurt,” Jonesey said. “This wasn’t your fault. You can find her. Just stay focused.”
Kurt scanned the ground again and saw the boot prints a little farther along. They headed off in another direction heading almost Northwest. He realized Marci was trying to parallel the rest of the squad’s path but was being forced away from it by the demons who chased the others last night.
None of the demons had found her when she reached this point. She was alone. There were no other prints around hers so Marci had been able to avoid detection so far.
The boot prints moved off, the distance between them increasing. It indicated she began to run here.
Then, a few hundred meters along, they stopped again.
Kurt knew immediately why. Other prints had moved in around Marci’s. Some of them had the unmistakable sign of cloven hooves indicating the taller, horned demons who walked on goat legs.
There were also signs of the six-legged paw-prints of the smaller demons. They’d caught up with Marci here.
The rest of the squad was right behind Kurt as he stood up and pointed at the ground. “This was where they caught her.”
“There’s no sign of blood,” Jonesey said, crouching down and scanning the dirt. “Spread out and see if we can find any other signs of Marci’s boots moving from here.”
The rest of the squad heeded the elf’s suggestion and surrounded the area scanning the dirt. They came back to the center after a few minutes.
“Nobody’s found anything, Kurt,” Sarge said. “Whatever happened to Marci, happened here. They must have carried her past this point.”
“But did they carry her because she was dead, or carry her because they disabled her or she was unconscious?”
“Don’t borrow trouble, Kurt,” Jonesey said. “My guess is, if she were dead, you’d know it. I believe she is still alive and has been captured by them.”
“They’ll cook her up for sure.”
Kurt spun around, staring at Stretch. “That will not happen.”
“Yeah, Stretch,” Fish said. “Why would you even say such a thing?”
“I don’t know,” the tall soldier said with a shrug. “I just said what came to mind. You’re right, Kurt. I’m sure she’s fine.”
Kurt turned away from the grumpy trooper. He couldn’t afford to think that direction. They had to get to her before anything else happened.
“Any idea which direction she went?” Sarge asked.
Kurt held his hands out over the last place they saw Marci’s prints before the struggle began. He concentrated on them and then saw a very faint trace of the trail attached to a pair of cloven hooves with a notch in the left hoof. That distinctive defect made it easier to follow. The demon who owned it, marched off in tandem with a group of others towards the west.
Kurt pointed at the dirt. “This one must have
carried her from this point forward. They headed west.”
Sarge nodded. “Then westward we go. Keep your eyes open everybody. We can’t afford to get ambushed. Smalls take point. Move as fast as you’re able but follow these tracks. Let’s see if we can gain some ground on them.”
The squad set out westward. Smalls took the lead. The rest of them filed in behind her, their eyes scanning the flanks and behind them as they moved. All of them were ready for an attack at any moment.
As the squad marched westward, Kurt’s mind twisted through a series of increasingly dire situations for Marci. He tried to understand what happened to her based on what he’d seen so far. He shook his head and grumbled something under his breath.
Jonesey overheard him. “What did you say?”
“Sorry, I was just trying to understand why they captured her. I’m glad they did. Don’t get me wrong. But these demons seem only interested in killing so far. This time, they didn’t. Instead they’re taking her back with them. I’m trying to understand what their reasoning would be to do so.”
“Isn’t it obvious? It has to be the Chaos Crystal,” Jonesey said. “These demons must know she has the crystal and is connected to it. They can’t just take it from her, Kurt. She’s tied to it somehow and that means they must be careful with how they separate it from her. They want the crystal’s power for themselves.
“What is this crystal?” Sarge asked.
“It’s a relic of great power,” Kurt replied. “Marci brought it with her because someone here sought to control her to retrieve it. If we want to find out which of the demons did that, we need to be patient. They knew she had it.”
“That’s what worries us,” Jonesey said. “They can’t take it from her unless she willingly gives it to them. These things have serious connections to the holder. If they take it from her in the wrong way. The new owner cannot control the full effects and may even have adverse consequences associated with possessing it. That is why the demons captured Marci alive. They need her to transfer the crystal in a specific way.”
“That sounds ominous,” Doc said. “The girl may not be up to the challenge of something this severe. Perhaps she will just give it to them.”