by Mark Romang
Satan was obviously using these hang-ups against him, trying to get him to implode, to concede before the battle even started.
Maddix picked up the Eden sword. He was shaken by the arrows, but more determined than ever to fight. Please strengthen my faith, Lord. The enemy knows everything about me. He knows me almost as well as you do.
Maddix heard his headset crackle. “We copy, Andrew. We’re okay. But you have two demons heading your way. And they’re really ticked off.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’m ready for them.” Maddix peered through the viewing window of the giant boulder. His heart stuttered when he saw an ominous vapor twisting its way through the canyon. The vapor snaked on a heading that would bring them together in a minute or less.
Maddix looked at his sword. He was a man familiar with weapons, yet had never seen a weapon so beautiful and so deadly. But he wondered how he could fight a vapor with it. He lifted his head, turned his gaze back toward the vapor. The sinister brume swirled closer. Twenty yards separated them.
Despite the chilliness of the canyon, sweat beaded on Maddix. He wondered if the demons traveled within the vapor, or if the vapor was simply a decoy meant to distract him. As he pondered this mystery a terrible screeching noise erupted. The keening pierced Maddix’s ears and brought on an instant migraine. His vision blurred. He needed to hurl.
The demons had arrived.
Two hideous creatures materialized from out of the brume. One of them had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over a shoulder, while his partner carried a deadly looking scimitar.
Maddix shrank back, away from the viewing window. He couldn’t tell if the demons knew he hid behind the boulder or not. But he still stood his ground, hoping he could ambush them unawares. Maddix waited to light his sword. The flames would give him away for sure.
The demons were greater in number and far more powerful. He needed the element of surprise, needed it like an infant needs its mother’s milk. He wanted the demons to come around the boulder single-file so he could impale them both with one violent thrust.
“We can see you, Andrew Maddix. You’re behind the boulder.”
Maddix felt chills race up and down his spinal column. They know I’m here. They’ve known it all along.
“Why don’t you come out into the open? We can talk this out,” the demon said, suddenly amiable.
“Are you kidding? You’re just going to shoot me with your arrows again,” Maddix replied with as much calmness as he could muster.
“Those were only warning shots. If we really meant to harm you we would have done it by now.”
Maddix cringed. He couldn’t believe he was conversing with a demon. Is this really happening? Or have I lost my marbles?
Maddix took a deep breath, more of a desperate gasp than anything, and rose up from his crouched position. He peeked through the boulder’s viewing window. The disgusting brutes stood waiting for him about ten feet away.
They looked nearly identical: twin monsters with wings and glowing red eyes like the signal lights on Kyle Miller’s MD-500 helicopter. On cue, Kyle Miller’s DJ-smooth voice entered his tactical helmet. “Running low on fuel, guys. Head to the HLZ—helicopter landing zone. We need to head back.”
“I can’t do that, Kyle. I’m engaging the enemy.” Maddix replied softly.
“Take care of them in the next fifteen minutes and we’ll be fine.”
I wish it was that easy, Maddix thought as he stepped around the boulder. He held the sword out in front of his body, the organ-shredding blade tip pointing slightly up in case the demons rushed him.
But his bestial foes stood their ground. Maddix watched their blood-red eyes lock onto the blade. They appeared mesmerized by the sword. He followed the path of their eyes. The demons seemed to be looking right at the ancient Hebrew lettering etched onto the blade. He knew it was Hebrew because he’d taken a class of the ancient language back at the seminary. He recognized some of the letters. But it was in some kind of code. He couldn’t decipher it.
Maddix swung the sword threateningly. Flames erupted from the double-edged blade. The demons howled, jumped back. Clearly, they hadn’t expected a sword doubling as a torch.
“You have no right to that sword, Maddix. You’re a sinner. The Eden sword is holy. You will die if you continue to use it,” one of the demons said as he inched closer.
Maddix laughed. It was a nervous guffaw, one that couldn’t hide his pounding fear. His heart thumped in his chest like a door knocker. He was facing two of Lucifer’s most powerful demons. “I’m a sinner that’s been forgiven. You’re just a sinner.”
“Ten minutes, Maddix. This helicopter is running on fumes,” Miller urgently reminded him.
Maddix didn’t answer. He didn’t dare let anything distract him. He kept his eyes trained on the demons. He had a hunch the one doing the talking was trying to divert his attention so the silent one could attack.
Maddix stepped forward using a fencer’s stride. He waggled the sword. Flames crackled and popped.
Both demons backed up slightly. “You cannot defeat us, Maddix. Give us the sword. It’s your only chance. We’re doing you a favor. You’re throwing your life away fighting us.”
“I don’t care if I die.”
“Oh, we won’t kill you. We’re not allowed to do that,” the demon said, pausing to lick his lips. “You’ve just taken a wrong turn. You mean well. But if you continue traveling down this treacherous path you’ll become a fugitive and eventually spend the rest of your days in prison.”
Maddix fidgeted. The hot sword burned his hands despite the flame-resistant Nomex gloves he wore. And his chances worsened the longer this posturing went on. “So be it. I’ll preach God’s word to the prisoners. It doesn’t matter.”
“Join us, Andrew. Come over to our side. Give us the Eden sword and we’ll stay away from your church. You won’t have to deal with us any longer.”
Maddix lunged catlike. A move so fast he surprised himself. And he surprised the silent demon too. The burning sword slashed into the demon’s stomach, the follow-through continuing across his body, searing his left arm. The demon shrieked and dropped its longbow. The demon then scuttled up the canyon walls like a monkey and perched on an overhanging ledge.
Maddix flicked his wrists back to the left, and swung his sword on a horizontal plane toward the talkative demon. But the demon reacted quickly, leaping straight up. The flaming sword only lacerated the ugly beast’s leg. In midair the demon screamed so loud Maddix felt his ears deafen.
The talkative one landed awkwardly on his one good leg and immediately started swinging his scimitar. The demon limped forward in a herky-jerky gait, his teeth bared like a jungle cat. Long strands of drool dripped from his mouth and puddled on the canyon floor.
Maddix swung his heavy sword back and forth. The flames expanded off the Eden sword, reaching out nearly ten feet and bathing the dark canyon in flickering, hellish light. Creepy shadows materialized from every nook and cranny in the canyon walls.
Paranoia gripped Maddix. He imagined every shadow was another demon intent on possessing him. He fought to keep his wavering focus on the demon in front of him and not imaginary ones lurking in shadows.
Maddix held his sword firmly with two hands, Kendo-style. He lunged forward again. But the demon easily parried his attack. The scimitar cracked into the Eden sword with supernatural force. Maddix stumbled to his right. His shoulder smashed into sandstone. Pain shot across his collarbone like an electrical current traveling through a conduit.
His demonic foe closed in, sensing victory. And then the silent demon Maddix had wounded earlier jumped down from his perch and joined his friend. They came at him together, confident they could finish him. One demon limped while the other favored an arm. They both screeched a bloodcurdling battle cry in unison.
Maddix froze. Terror strangled him. He couldn’t breathe.
I can’t do this in my power, God. I’m too weak. Show me you’re real.
He went berserk. Maddix swung the sword wildly like Conan, supinating and pronating his wrists back and forth. The Eden sword took out both legs of the silent one. The legless demon toppled over. An ear-blasting caterwaul erupted from its mouth.
Maddix surged forward and plunged the flaming sword into the demon’s chest. The superheated blade seared through muscle, bone, and wing. The fallen angel lapsed into convulsions. The hilt of the Eden sword vibrated crazily in Maddix’s hands. He struggled to hold onto the vacillating sword as a torrent of silvery-black blood spewed out the demon’s mouth and splattered against the canyon floor and walls. The demon blood sprayed up onto Maddix’s chest.
His attention diverted, Maddix didn’t notice the scimitar-swinging demon bearing down on him. Their bodies collided. Maddix’s climbing boots left the ground. He shot backwards twenty feet, flying through the air and landing in a shallow pothole. Water exploded upward; his breath fled his lungs. He sat up, groggy and breathless. He flipped his night-vision goggles back down.
“Sara? Webb? I could use some help,” he croaked hoarsely into his boom mike.
Maddix spotted the demon. The hulking beast was attempting to pull the Eden sword out of his fallen comrade. Scrambling to his feet, Maddix grasped the crucifix dangling around his neck. He yanked it over his head and rushed over to the demon.
The demon turned to meet him, snarling with as much ferocity as a dozen angry lions. Maddix held out the eight inch stainless steel crucifix. “I command you, demon, by the authority of Jesus Christ, your conqueror, and by the power of the cross that saves mankind from the penalty of their sins, to let go of the sword and leave this canyon!”
The demon let go of the Eden sword but didn’t move. “You think it’s that easy, do you? You say a few holy words and flash a manmade trinket in front of my eyes and expect me to shrink back,” the demon hissed.
“You have to obey Christ’s authority, and you have to obey me. I’ve been adopted into His family. I’m his brother. You’re beneath me.” Maddix replied boldly, unsure where his bravery was coming from.
The demon laughed maniacally. “I will take great pleasure in possessing you, Andrew. You will become my host. And you will serve me.”
Coleton Webb’s voice entered Maddix’s headset. “Look out, Mad Dog! Incoming!”
Maddix peered around the demon and saw the flames lap around the canyon walls and head straight for them. He dropped to his belly just as the 1200 degree inferno scorched the demon’s head and chest. The flames passed over Maddix. The intense heat caught his backpack on fire. He rolled over and into the pothole to extinguish it.
As steam wafted off his ruined backpack, Maddix looked up. He saw the talkative demon flapping crazily through the narrow slot canyon. Webb chased it with another blast from his flamethrower. But like a thrown boomerang, the demon banked and headed back toward Maddix.
Maddix thrashed his way out of the pothole and sprinted toward the neutralized demon and the Eden sword, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the wet scree. He lost his balance and fell down, banging his knee on a rock. The pain didn’t register. Maddix popped up and lunged for the sword. The Eden sword still burned in the fallen angel’s chest. Maddix grabbed the hilt. The sword produced a nasty gurgling sound as he pulled it from the demon’s chest cavity.
The other demon landed back down about eight feet in front of Maddix. Maddix brandished the Eden sword, ready to engage. But the demon did something unexpected. It opened its mouth wide. A forked tongue flicked over jagged fanglike teeth. And from out of the gaping maw a foul smelling vapor billowed out the demon’s mouth. The vapor glided toward Maddix. He barely had time to react.
Maddix turned to his right. The vapor hit his back and parted. And as the vapor wrapped around him, a chilling thought broke into his mind like a shattering ice cycle. He suddenly remembered the demon saying he would take great pleasure in possessing him. He’s trying to possess me!
Maddix turned and lunged for the demon, swinging the Eden sword with bad intent. His chance of defeating the demon was better now that Webb had shot it with the flamethrower. The demon moved slower, seemed less cognizant. But he had to impale it quickly before it recovered. And he had no idea how long that would take.
The demon parried his strike at the last second. The opposing blades engaged, clanking together. Maddix redoubled; mounted a riposte. Back when he was a SEAL, he used to fence with another commando. He learned a few techniques. But the other SEAL was so much better at fencing. He humbled Maddix repeatedly. Maddix tired of the drubbings and quit practicing. He wished now that he would have continued the lessons.
Maddix slashed at the demon with a chopping motion. The demon was a little late with his parry. The Eden sword cut into his shoulder and wing, leaving a gaping laceration. Black blood sprayed from the gash. Maddix hoped the successful strike would put an end to the demon’s flying ability. If he could only decrease the demon’s mobility, he stood a better chance.
Fabian Strategy calls for a smaller, weaker army to harass a larger army and weaken it through a war of attrition. Pitched battles and frontal assaults are avoided in favor of indirect hit-and-run skirmishes. Fabian Strategy was first implemented in the Second Punic War in 218 BC and is still used successfully today. Maddix hoped a modified version of it would work for him tonight.
The demon threw off the engagement and performed a counter-riposte with his scimitar, nearly decapitating Maddix. Ducking at the last moment, Maddix brought the flaming Eden sword straight up through the demon’s crotch. The demon howled in pain and somehow managed to leap straight up.
Remembering how he struck the demon’s leg earlier, maiming it, Maddix slashed at the demon’s legs. He missed but stopped his momentum quickly and performed a whip-over, cutting through the demon’s guard and lopping off both legs.
The demon landed awkwardly and began flopping around like a decapitated chicken—albeit a very large one. Sensing victory, Maddix pounced, bringing the Eden Sword straight down in an attempt to impale his foe. But he missed. The demon rolled out of the way at the last moment, and the sword dug into the ground and hissed out.
Maddix attempted to pull the sword out, but didn’t succeed. A violent collision knocked him flat to the ground. The demon pounced on top of him. They were face to face. Maddix shuddered. He felt a warm wetness dribble down his leg. He looked into the demon’s red eyes. It was like looking into twin pools of liquid evil.
Horror as sharp as razor-wire slashed at Maddix. His nerve endings frayed. An image of maggot-filled corpses lying in a flaming trench shimmered in the demon’s retinas. Maddix diverted his gaze. If he looked into the demon’s eyes much longer he would go mad.
“What are you going to do now without your precious sword, Andrew?” The demon said. His putrid breath smelled like an extinguished match.
“Feel free at any time to come over and help me, guys,” Maddix called out to Sara and Webb.
“Sorry, Mad Dog. Our tanks are empty,” Webb called out. For the first time ever, Maddix detected fear in Webb’s voice.
“It’s over, Andrew. Prepare to become my host,” the demon snarled.
Maddix grabbed the crucifix from around his neck. He smashed the cross up against the demon’s charred face, wincing when he felt his fingers brush against scaly skin. The crucifix burned into the demon’s flesh, making his face sizzle and pop like bacon frying in a pan. “In the name of my savior, Jesus Christ, get off me you stinking monster!”
The demon tumbled backward, almost as if he’d been pushed. Maddix leapt to his feet and grabbed the Eden sword. He pulled it from the stony ground and in one motion plunged the sword downward at an angle to the right, guessing that the demon would roll in this direction. He guessed correctly.
The Eden sword gored the d
emon in the chest. Maddix threw all his weight onto the hilt, driving the flaming blade completely through the demon’s pectoral region. A wet crunching sound filled the canyon as bones snapped in two like dead branches. And just like his comrade, the conquered demon convulsed violently, his giant head slammed repeatedly against the ground. Silvery-black blood erupted from his mouth like flowing lava. And then the shuddering finally stopped and he lay still.
Maddix stood there, beat up and exhausted and breathing heavily. Webb and Sara rushed up to him. “Are you okay, Andrew?” Sara asked. Her voice was soothing to his ears. He wanted to fall into her arms.
A voice crackled into their radio headsets. “You guys have two minutes to get to the HLZ. If you don’t show, me and Cody are heading back to the airport,” Kyle Miller said.
“Don’t leave us here in this canyon, Kyle! We’re coming out,” Sara pleaded. She looked at Webb and Maddix, her eyes wild. “Come on guys. We need to double-time it.”
Chapter 23
10 AM, the next morning
Pounding on his front door woke Maddix from a fitful sleep. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. A dull ache squeezed the knee of his good leg. He pulled the bed sheet off his legs and looked down. A baseball-sized bruise covered the kneecap.
He vaguely remembered falling in the canyon and banging it. He flexed the leg, grimacing at the stiffness. It wasn’t anything serious, but it could slow him down tonight when they returned to the canyon.
The thought of battling the demons again sickened him. He felt lucky to be alive, lucky he somehow avoided a possession. He might not be so fortunate the next time.
Remembering the banging on his door, Maddix reached down and picked up his prosthetic laying on the floor beside his bed. He placed his stump into the interface, felt air being forced out the opening on the bottom of the socket. The suction valve closed the opening and sealed the prosthetic in place.
The pounding continued. Someone called out his name. “I’m coming. Hold on,” Maddix called back. He pulled on a pair of running shorts and hustled over to the door. When he opened it he saw Jack Crenshaw standing there, a Felicity police officer and a member of Zion Baptist Church.