by Jamie Davis
She turned around and saw one sixer standing on the far side. It crouched down and then jumped forward at her.
Marci pivoted around on the ball of her right foot as she stood at the edge of the gap.
She swung the heel of her left foot in a circle, executing a perfect roundhouse kick, catching the demon in the chest as it plunged forward at her. The blow was just enough to keep it from reaching the far side.
It fell, still snarling at her in defiance, down into the chasm fifty meters below.
“Scratch another one,” Marci muttered to herself. She turned and jogged along the ledge at an easier pace, allowing herself a breather.
That gap should hold a few of them back. At least, she hoped it would. It would only work until they figured out how to come around at her from another direction.
Marci reached the end of the ledge and came upon another rough upward climb on a slope of about a forty-five degree angle. She could see places where there was a lot of loose shale and other rock that would crumble beneath her feet.
Climbing that slope would cause her to shift and slide all the way to the bottom if she wasn’t careful.
Slowing her pace, Marci picked her way across the rocky slope, wishing repeatedly she could find the opening that would lead her to the birthplace of the Chaos Crystal.
Harshad had told her it was on this mountain somewhere. She had to find it first. It was her only guarantee of safety.
Marci knew that if she managed to save herself by replacing the crystal in its home, she would likely also seal her fate. While Harshad had agreed to let her go, she had no delusions about what the fallen angel would do to her should he lose. He was evil personified.
As she climbed upward, Marci took care not to dislodge any stones. About halfway up, she spotted an opening above her. It looked like a vertical crack running along the mountain’s surface, but it could also be an entrance inside.
Marci angled herself in that direction. There appeared to be a ledge jutting out below the crack.
She almost reached the ledge when she heard a booming voice behind her. Harshad had caught up with her.
“Marci Trenton, you will fail. We have caught up to you. Give up now and perhaps I will show you mercy.”
Marci was out of breath and couldn’t bring herself to croak out an answer. Instead of a verbal reply, she steadied herself on the steep slope and grabbed a fist sized rock from the ground next to her.
In a sudden act of defiance, she threw it at Harshad.
Her aim was spot on.
The stone struck the fallen angel directly in the center of his chest, opening a deep gash in the smooth white skin. Dark, black blood seeped from the wound and dripped down his chest and stomach.
Harshad wiped at the blood and stared at the stain on his hand for a few seconds then pointed at Marci and bellowed, “After her. Bring her down and peel the skin from her, strip by strip.”
The snarling pack of demons, including both horned demons and six-legged smaller demons all raced up the slope after her.
Marci realized she’d paused too long after the strike at Harshad. Turning she tried to force her exhausted legs to push harder and increase her pace as she scrambled up towards the ledge. The broad crack in the mountain had to be the entrance.
Despite her increased speed, the demons gained on her. She couldn’t match the speed of six legs when scrambling up this part of the mountain. She barely made it to the ledge before the first of them caught up to her.
Chapter 20
Marci reached up and gripped the ledge. She didn’t know how, but she’d made it. With a grunt of effort from her tired arms, Marci pulled herself up until she could almost see over the top.
Something jerked at her foot, yanking downward and threatening to dislodge her. Then it pulled at her even harder. Tusks punctured her boot and dug into her ankle.
Groaning in pain, Marci cast a frantic glance downward. One of the pursuing sixers had caught up with her.
It latched onto her leg and pulled at her with all its body weight, shaking its head back and forth as it hung down in open air. It was determined to pull both of them to their deaths.
Marci couldn’t let go to reach for the tomahawk thrust in her belt. She needed to hold on with both hands. Even with two hands, she was losing her grip on the ledge.
She tried kicking at the creature with her other foot but the demon showed no signs of letting go.
Below, more of the six-legged hound demons scrambled up the slope. Twenty or more of the larger horned humanoid demons followed behind.
Marci hung on, digging into the stone with her fingernails in desperation as her strength started to give out.
Her fingers slipped as her final bit of strength left her. Then a gunshot cracked out above her.
Shocked at the sudden noise, Marci looked up and saw Jonesey perched on the ledge above, her pistol aimed past Marci’s head at the demon clutching her leg.
The shot took the beast in the eye and it dropped off her leg and fell to slide and roll down the steep mountain slope. The falling body dislodged two other sixers clinging to the slope just below it.
Kurt moved into view at the lip of the ledge. He had his pistol in one hand. His other reached down to grab her by the wrist, hauling her up over the lip of the ledge.
“Where did you come from?” she asked, unable to come up with anything else to say.
“I had a feeling you might need help,” Kurt replied.
Before Marci could say anything else, another shot rang out next to her as Jonesey fired again.
Kurt stepped past Marci and fired four more shots in rapid succession. The slide on his pistol locked back just like Jonesey’s as the final bullets in his magazine fired.
“They’re still coming,” Jonesey yelled. “We will not be able to hold this ridge for long given the numbers they have.”
“The cave,” Marci said. She pointed to the jagged opening in the mountain’s side. “The Chaos Crystal needs to be returned in there.”
Sarge and the rest of the squad moved up to the edge next to Jonesey. “You three do what you need to do. We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”
“There’s too many of them, Sarge,” Kurt said. “Come into the mountain with us.”
The old soldier shook his head. “I get the feeling this is your mission to accomplish. Don’t worry about us, we’re tougher than we look. Get going before it’s too late to do what needs to be done.”
Kurt spared one glance down the slope at the advancing demons, then nodded. He reached out and clasped wrists with the sergeant.
Kurt helped Marci to her feet, and they ran for the crack in the mountain’s side. Jonesey joined them. Kurt waited at the entrance, letting the two women enter ahead of him. They ran past him and he followed Marci and Jonesey through the jagged entrance.
The light from outside filtered in through the crack. It extended upward from the initial opening into the ceiling of the cavern far above. The entire wall in front of them glittered and reflected the sunlight from outside to fill the space inside the mountain with light.
It was as if someone had sprinkled a thousand tiny diamonds along the wall. Each reflected the sunlight back into her eyes in sparkling rainbows of color.
After spending so much time amidst the plain and barren landscape of this world, seeing something so beautiful was a bit of a shock to her. Kurt and Jonesey stood looking at the scene as well, equally overcome by the display.
Marci broke out of her reverie and stepped forward. She pointed at an opening on the other side of the cave. A black space opened in the midst of the glittering diamonds embedded in the far wall. Marcie seemed to know where she needed to go. “There. I can sense it.”
“Take the crystal out of your pack, Marci.” Jonesey said. “I think it will be better to have it in your hands when you go into that cave.”
“Why?” Marci asked. “Is there some danger you haven’t told us about?”
Jonesey shoo
k her head. “I just have a feeling. The Chaos Crystal may not want to go back to this place. You may have to exert your will over it. Holding it in your hands will give you more contact to be able to do that.”
“What kind of danger do you think we could run into?” Kurt asked. “More demons like outside?”
“The risk has more to do with the power contained within the crystal. I fear it will not wish to have that power returned to the world from whence it came.”
“Well, let’s get this over with,” Marci said. “Our friends are risking their lives out there on that ledge while we do this.”
Marci slid the straps of her backpack off and opened the flap. The red inner light glowed in the crystal.
Marci held it in both hands before her and turn back towards the black cave opening in the glittering wall.
The sounds of fighting drifted inside the cavern from out on the ledge. Kurt glanced at the cavern’s opening. “The demons have reached the ledge. They’re attempting to break through.”
Marci stepped forward and into the smaller cave opening.
Chapter 21
Marci stepped forward and disappeared the moment she passed through the opening. It was as if she’d passed through a black curtain.
“Where did she go?” Kurt asked as soon as Marci disappeared.
“I’m not sure.” Jonesey took a step towards the opening.
Kurt dashed forward past her and through the entrance without pausing. A momentary sensation of electricity danced across his exposed skin as he passed over the threshold of the doorway. Then he was through to the other side.
The walls of the room in which he and Marci stood were covered in similar glittering points of light as outside. Kurt realized as he examined them they were a continuation of the glittering crystals embedded in the wall outside. They channeled the sunlight into the inner cave, providing plenty of illumination.
The circular room was about ten meters across. In the wall opposite the entrance, a niche or alcove was carved into the far wall. It was a small ledge set into part of the vertical stone surface where there were none of the tiny glittering crystals.
Marci had already moved over to stand before the ledge.
“I don’t know which one to use,” she said as she stared at the ledge.
Kurt was unsure what Marci meant until he reached the far side of the room and stood next to her. The ledge in the alcove had three shallow depressions carved into it. Each one was faceted like the head of the crystal. It was clear that the crystal could be set down into one of the depressions and be a perfect fit. It was impossible to see which was the right one.
Kurt shrugged. “I have no idea. They all look the same.”
“That’s what I mean,” Marci said. “I know the crystal belongs in one of them. I’m scared placing it in the wrong depression will make something bad happen.”
Jonesey had entered the chamber. She stepped up to stand next to Kurt and Marci.
The elf shook her head as she stared at the alcove. “This is unexpected.”
Kurt let out a short burst of laughter at the woman’s response. “That’s certainly stating the obvious. I was hoping you could tell us which one to use, Jonesey.”
“That is not what intrigues me. It is that there are three sockets. That’s an ominous sign.”
“Why?” Marci asked. “Can’t we just put this back and get out of here. Who cares if there is more than one socket for crystals here.”
“We should all care. We should all care very much.” Jonesey said. “The fact that there are three sockets and we have one crystal means there are other Chaos Crystals out there like it. Proof of their existence may provide one possible explanation why so many catastrophic things happened in recent years across the universe, like what happened on Earth Prime when the gateways opened.”
“Remember what Sanith said when we first encountered the Cardinal?” Kurt asked. “Sanith said the Cardinal showed up and took on the disguise right before the Newtons Gate incident ten years ago. Could there be a correlation between the possession of the Chaos Crystal and what happened on earth when the Newtons Gate experiment failed?”
Marci shrugged. “It’s hard to say. There are a lot of scientists looking into what exactly happened when the gate experiment failed.”
“It could be something to do with the Chaos Crystal,” Jonesey said. “Remember, it strives to return matter to a state of entropy. The chaos of nature is paramount to the crystal’s central desire and power. You can exert control over it to an extent, Marci. However, it is a powerful force unto itself.”
“I think that’s why Harshad, the Cardinal, had to stage this hunt as a contest between me and him. He had to do it to recover the crystal for himself.”
Jonesey nodded. “The knowledge that there might be two others like it out there leads me to wonder if the removal of them from this world caused a fundamental shift in the fabric of the entire universe.”
“Does that mean we have to find the other two before we can return this one to its proper place?” Marci asked. “I’m not sure I have it in me to come back here again.”
“Don’t worry, Marci,” Kurt said. “We’ll take care of watching your back if we have to return.”
“We won’t know until we try to replace this one. It may only be a temporary measure,” Jonesey said. “Let’s figure out which socket this one fits into.”
A scream distracted the three of them. It came from the doorway leading out to the main cavern.
A body came flying into the room, sliding across the floor, leaving a bloody smear on the stone behind it. It was Stretch. He was dead.
Kurt pointed the spike at the end of the glaive at the black opening to the outer cavern. Whatever threw Stretch’s body through the magic doorway might come through at any second.
Kurt’s prediction was right. Harshad stepped into the chamber a second later. In one hand he gripped Smalls by the neck.
The tiny scout struggled to dislodge the demon’s grip as he choked her with one hand.
Kurt watched in horror as Harshad snatched the spear from Small’s hands and drove it towards the woman’s abdomen.
Smalls twisted and batted the blade away, diverting the killing blow. The spear missed her gut and passed through her thigh instead. It penetrated up to the crossbar below the spearhead.
Smalls screamed in agony as Harshad dropped her to the floor of the cave to writhe in pain by the entrance.
“Did you think you’re pitiful band of friends would be enough to stop me?” Harshad asked. “I am far too powerful to be stopped by such petty human soldiers as these.”
Kurt clamped down on his anger. The fallen angel was a formidable opponent. He wouldn’t underestimate him.
“Just because you’ve made it through them, Harshad, doesn’t mean you’ll get past me.”
“I have faced you before, Kurt Carter. I am not afraid to do so again. If I remember correctly, you were almost executed at my order back then.”
“Yes, almost being the key word there. We beat you and exposed your deception to the people of Rendara. We’ll beat you now, too.”
“Don’t be fooled, Kurt,” Jonesey said. “He’s up to something.”
“Shut up, elf whore. You were not supposed to come along when I lured the two of them here.”
“It’ll take more than some fallen angel to keep me away from helping my friends,” Jonesey said. She turned to Marci and pointed to the three depressions in the ledge. “No time to figure it out, Marci. Trust your instincts. Take your pick.”
Marci nodded and reached to place the crystal in the first socket before her on the wall on the ledge.
“Don’t replace the crystal, Marci. If you do, I’ll destroy everything you hold dear including your precious Kurt.”
Harshad reached down and yanked the spear from Smalls leg. The woman screamed at the pain as the spear tore open the wound in her leg even more. Blood spurted from the gash in her leg.
Leveling the
spear, Harshad threw it at Marci’s back.
Kurt reached out with the glaive, barely deflecting the thrown spear. It flew past Marci and clattered into the glittering wall next to the alcove.
Marci hesitated, looking from the ledge to the spear on the floor, to her friends, and back again.
Kurt knew he had to stop the demon from getting into her head. She seemed more vulnerable than her usual strong-willed self.
Spinning the glaive overhead with two hands he brought it down, leveling it at Harshad as he charged forward leading with the glaive’s silver spike.
Harshad reached behind his back and pulled out a long black sword. He whipped it around in front of him, creating a weaving barrier Kurt found hard to penetrate with his weapon.
Kurt pressed forward with a lunging thrust.
Harshad used the tip of the black sword to deflect the spike away. As the two weapons met, sparks showered outward as if the two metals were incompatible with each other.
Kurt felt the jolt up the shaft of the glaive from Harshad’s cursed sword. His fingers tingled and went partly numb from the effect.
He ignored it and brought the glaive back around, blocking the return stroke just in time to keep Harshad from decapitating him.
Dancing backwards, Kurt pivoted, using his momentum to swing around with the glaive, ready for another strike.
This time he tried swinging in with the axe head. He scored a small hit, drawing a line of thick black blood on the fallen angel’s arm.
Harshad was hard-pressed to bring the enormous black sword around in time to block the return stroke.
Kurt saw the gash he’d opened on Harshad’s arm. He tried to strike again on the opposite arm and catch the demon by surprise.
It worked. Harshad growled deep in his throat in pain as the glaive scored another hit.
Then he spread his wings wide behind him and swept them forward.
The thrust of the wings produced a forceful blast of air that staggered Kurt backward several steps.
Harshad followed the gust of air with a lunging thrust at Kurt’s mid-section.