by L R Deney
Zenn cringed at the sight, but didn’t let it get to her. She had to ensure that the rest of her team and her army pulled through, she knew she’d see grisly things in this war; demons weren’t shy about being brutal. The enemy scored into the thousands, as the entire army of golems seemed outnumbered. She knew what she had to order.
“Retreat!” she yelled, and led the way further toward the east. She wanted to make it to the Scathus border; perhaps they could find refuge there.
They were reaching the city limits when one of the airborne demons swooped down and snatched the spectacled Second Lieutenant McCarlo up into the sky. There was a brief shower of blood from above, and an arm and a leg fell nearby, causing the colonel’s heart to sink. She fired off as many combat spells as she could to fend them off.
Behind her army, there was a long trail of wrecked golems; despite the automatons fighting back to protect themselves and their officers as they ran to the border. Now all that surrounded them was the Hellish trees that unnerved even Zenn, not even a single building in sight. She didn’t know exactly where the border was, they were either close or had already crossed it. Either way, the army of demons was still pursuing them.
It felt like her part of the campaign was lost. She didn’t know how many golems or officers she lost, she hadn’t time to count, but based on the sheer numbers they were under assault from, she estimated it was dwindling fast. She wondered if the other legions were faring any better than hers, because the success of this campaign fell upon their shoulders instead. Was it really possible that they had underestimated Kadmon’s forces so perilously? She shuddered to think of how bad it really was overall.
Terrified, she was beginning to lose hope. She wondered when her own death would come. What would it feel like? Would she feel anything? Was her soul forfeit by coming here in the first place? The feeling of dread that started consuming her stomach brought her close to losing her lunch, the nausea becoming overpowering.
Had they crossed the border yet? She didn’t know and it was starting to bother her, as were the howls and screams surrounding her, the explosions of spells, the sheer din of it all. She was starting to lose hope rapidly, even as she fired off a few more spells of her own. This whole thing had been a disaster the moment that she led her forces into the demonic suburbs. Now she was retreating through a demonic forest. If she survived this, the next time a general assigns her to an invasion of Hell, she’ll tell him where he can kindly stuff it.
There was a loud howl off in the distance, then another and another. At first the thought it was just Kadmon’s forces, but the noises grew closer from the southeast and a black cloud emerged from the horizon over the treetops. Initially she thought her forces were thoroughly fucked, but then the two armies of demons clashed and began tearing each other to shreds, claws slicing and teeth tearing flesh amongst screeches and growls. The attention of Kadmon’s army had diverted from her forces to this new third party.
Her army took advantage of it and immediately she led the way deeper into the demonic wilderness. Scathus’ army had saved their necks, no matter how inadvertent it might have been. But she didn’t want to stick around and find out what Scathus really thought of an army of golems led by wizards, she just wanted to get away from the two demon armies as far and fast as possible. She wondered if there was another portal back to Earth somewhere nearby; as she wanted nothing more to do with this plane of existence any longer.
After putting enough distance between themselves and the two clashing, demonic armies, Zenn’s was able to finally regroup. There was a headcount of officers and golems. Eight officers had been lost, and six more got through it with injuries. As for the golems, a thousand had been lost, bringing their number down to two-thousand. It wasn’t as bad as she had thought, but it was still a significant loss.
She turned to face a couple of her surviving officers. “See if you can’t find us a portal out of this miserable world. I don’t care if we wind up in the middle of Manhattan, I want out of Hell.”
Obediently, the two officers ran off to scout the area. She looked back to where the two demon armies were clashing and watched like the rest of her command team was. It was like two dark clouds swirling together, then spreading out, only to swirl back together again. She could only imagine how intense the actual fighting was over there.
“Do you think they’ll come over here, ma’am?” Smiths asked, the hyperactive blonde looking deeply concerned.
“I really have no idea, but I don’t intend to find out. Hopefully we find a portal so we can get the fuck out of here.”
“Are we really deserting?” another officer asked.
Zenn looked to him with a frown. “Perhaps. Intelligence failed us, though. It gave us no thorough examination of the enemy positions. We walked right into an ambush because of it. That’s reason enough to question and confront those who gave us our orders. It became a complete shitshow.”
“No one has to worry about desertion, because no one’s going anywhere,” a voice that sounded like rocks grinding together said.
Zenn whirled around as did the rest of her officers. Beginning to surround them was another army of demons, creeping into view from the woods. The one who spoke held one of the scouting officers by the throat, fortunately still alive. The face of the man was panic-stricken.
“Welcome to Scathus,” it continued. “You are now our permanent guests. Resist and you’ll be slaughtered like the filthy, hairless monkeys you are. We have you surrounded.”
A cursory glance around the area proved the demon’s words to be correct. They had just become prisoners of war.
“…fuck.”
Chapter 15
Staci led the way up the gravel track with Melanie close behind. Birds chirped from the trees surrounding them, squirrels ran back and forth through the shrubbery and up and down tree trunks. It was a typical wooded area just outside the suburban zone. It was kind of beautiful, even though it was still lightly populated.
Evergreens swayed in the soft wind, letting a chill pass by, causing the two women to shiver slightly. There were a few drops of rain felt in that breeze, prompting them to look up at the sky. Overcast, as was typical of Washington state weather in the winter. Some of those clouds looked pretty damn dark.
“How much farther?” Melanie asked, pulling her jacket close around herself.
“Not too far,” Staci replied.
The gravel path they had only been on for a few yards from the road that wound through the area. They had been walking on that road for about an hour after Staci had brought them into the area from the Olympic National Park. She wanted to take no chances of their destination being detected by Azramoas’ hunting parties.
They turned a bend and a trailer surrounded by satellite dishes and antennas came into view. That was when the rain started coming down in more frequent, heavier drops. Both of them ran for the trailer, arriving at the door where the owner was kind enough to set up a canopy.
Melanie looked around as the rain grew thick and torrential. “This seems like a quiet place.”
“Oh, it is, especially when you get inside,” Staci responded as she knocked on the door.
“How do you know this person?”
“I met and hung out with them after I discovered myself. Think it was at a support group in Tacoma.”
“Thus the reason we’re in Spanaway.”
“Yeah… close by.”
Suddenly the door opened and a dark haired, androgynous individual with a plump build stepped into view. They wore a black sweat shirt and jeans and glasses. Their eyes swept the both of them and their eyes brightened when they saw Staci. Immediately they offered a hug and Staci accepted it graciously.
“It’s been so long, how’ve you been?” they asked.
“I’ve been as well as I can be,” Staci answered, pulling back from the hug with a smile.
“And who’s your friend?”
“Girlfriend, actually. This is Melanie Brooks.”
“Hi Melanie, I’m Theo, they/them pronouns,” the person in the trailer doorway said, offering another greeting hug. Melanie accepted it. “Well, don’t just stand here in the wet and cold, come on in.”
As they followed Theo in, Melanie noticed the “TARDIS effect” once again, as the interior was far larger on the inside as it was outside. Staci, as usual, was unfazed as she closed the door behind them. Throughout the immediate room were loads of electronic devices ranging from watches to Web servers. It all certainly would not have fit in the trailer that Melanie saw outside.
“Whoa, Staci wasn’t kidding when she said you were a techno-mmm…?” Melanie stumbled over the last word.
“Technomancer, yes,” answered Theo with a wide grin, apparently proud of themself.
“That sounds pretty awesome, how does that work?”
“Well, have you ever seen the Matrix or Tron?”
“I’ve seen the Matrix.”
“Okay, cool, well it works a little like that. I can interface with electronics through my magic, make them operate and do anything I want them to do, no matter how impossible it may seem. A lot of other spellcasters really don’t like my brand of magic because it doesn’t follow any kind of established, ancient tradition. So technomancers are kinda shunned in Azramoas.”
“I’ve never been to Azramoas but I keep hearing about it from Staci.”
“Eh, it’s kind of a refuge for wizards and races that the mundane world has written off as fantasy or mythology. Anyone who isn’t human is generally treated like shit, though, except maybe elves. It’s interesting to visit off and on but I don’t really recommend it, and the authorities are kinda dicks.”
“Sounds like anywhere on Earth.”
“Yeah, people are assholes.”
“Azramoas has potentially gotten worse,” Staci spoke up, leaning back against a wall.
“Oh? How so?”
“The Council has been acting extremely reactionary as of late and refuses to investigate real matters of grave importance.”
“Like what?”
“The Black Sun.”
“Oh damn. Nazis. Watching the American news, I’m not so surprised that they’ve showed back up.”
“It’s certainly a more fucked up age we’re living in lately. Not by much, since imperialism has always been shitty, but the Nazis, mundane or arcane, are not helping matters.”
Theo slowly nodded. “So what brings you two here?”
Staci took in a deep breath of discomfort. “The Azramoas City Watch is after us, as is the Black Sun.”
“Wait what? Why is the City Watch after you?”
“The Council is compromised. Pretty sure one of the councilors is Black Sun, potentially a man named Friedrich Fromm. He fits the bill, certainly. Anyway, we were set up by the fascist order after we rescued a couple people from their agents; they’ve been targeting minority groups in Seattle. And they’ve embedded their agents into the SPD.”
“Oh, that’s not good.”
“Yes and the agents we stopped were those very infiltrators. Anyway, this resulted in me being abducted by the City Watch and put through a kangaroo court by the Council until demons showed up and… ‘rescued’ me.”
“What.”
“And now also, apparently the Speaker wound up assassinated and the Council thinks I did it.”
“W-w-w-what the fuck?” Theo looked absolutely flabbergasted, their jaw almost reaching to the ground. “Why did demons? …the Council? Please explain.”
“Kadmon’s back.”
“No, no, no, I thought you were done with that bitch. Why would you let her near you anymore? You spent two years recovering from the trauma she inflicted on you. Why go back now?”
Staci held up her hands in defense. “I didn’t. The demons just showed up and declared me her property. Then they attacked the Council while I got away. I have no desire to be near that woman ever again.”
“Well shit, just like an abuser to track you down and drag you back.”
Staci looked down with a nod. “Yeah….”
Theo frowned and approached Staci. “Can I…?”
Staci weakly nodded and Theo wrapped their arms around the woman in a comforting hug. Melanie joined in, adding her own comfort to her girlfriend. There they stood for a while, just in a simple group hug, Staci staring off into space as the emotional warmth from her friends washed over her.
“Okay, I think I’m good,” the witch finally said, starting to feel crowded. Obligingly, both Melanie and Theo released her.
“So what can I do for my comrade?” Theo asked.
“Safe haven and help finding info on the Order of the Black Sun. Where they might be organizing, where’ve they been all this time, who might be in charge. Stuff like that.”
Theo nodded. “Safe haven I can definitely give, as despite outside appearances, I have plenty of room for two more people.”
“You always had a clever sanctum.”
“Why thank you, I’m very proud of it. As for the rest of your request, it will take a bit of digging through the Internet. And as you might know, the Internet is a very filthy place, so it might take a while.”
Staci shrugged. “No, I don’t really know. Don’t spend much time on the Internet.”
“Trust them, Staci; they speak the God honest truth. The Internet is kind of a wasteland of bigoted bullshit.”
Shrugging, the witch looked back to Theo. “Well in that case, I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.”
“It’s okay; I already navigate the Internet frequently. I’ll just put on my biohazard suit.”
“I… what?”
“I’m kidding. Now go on you two, you both look like you need some rest. There’s a bed in back big enough for the two of you.”
“Thank you again, Theo,” Staci said before taking Melanie’s hand and leading the way to the room indicated. Both were indeed exhausted by everything that happened prior and needed all of the rest they could get.
◆◆◆
After the girls went to bed, Theo wandered into another room where their computer was set up. The computer was a marvel, as they were able to give it specs that didn’t quite exist on the public market just yet. One of the perks of being a technomancer, acquire the unacquirable through technological spellcrafting. It had multiple monitors and clocked at speeds that would make most tech geeks dizzy.
They were proud of it.
After sitting down in their chair, they laid their hands upon their keyboard and began stroking at keys. To an outsiders, it would look like they were striking random keys, but in fact it was an incantation to enter the world of the Internet. Most did not know, but as it had slowly built up over the decades, the Internet had become its own plane of existence. And into it they entered.
It was very much like the movies that Theo had mentioned to Melanie earlier. The feeling of being digitized and manifesting in the code-filled world around them was disorienting, but only for a few moments. They had years of experience doing this to get used to the sensation.
The Internet in appearance was closer to that of Tron than the Matrix, full of luminescent objects that could be buildings or terrain. Code floated through everything, the air, the ground, the “buildings”, it was all filled with numbers, letters, and symbols. Now it was just a matter of finding what they needed.
Order of the Black Sun, they thought, concentrating on the name.
Almost immediately Theo was whisked away on a wild trip through the Internet. They passed numerous sites about the subject, some being Wikipedia articles, various pseudo-history pages, some rambling about “Vril energy” and “Nazi flying saucers”, others were the most atrocious white supremacy Web sites, message boards stuffed with racist garbage, conspiracy theories about former presidents leading secret communist revolutions, pedophile rings in the non-existent basements of pizza parlors, and so much more. It still amazed Theo that
so much trash could be posted and taken seriously by the ignorant human beings that wrote it.
It was a truly wearying experience. Theo was feeling the urge to vomit as they sifted through it all, metaphorically wading in shit. They were almost ready to give up on it entirely when they suddenly noticed something tucked away in the corner of the virtual trash.
It was a message board post on a white supremacist page that was announcing recruitment for a group that “practiced the mystic arts of racial purity.” Shaking their head, they forced themself to read more. It went on that the Fourth Reich was at hand and that it needed serious practitioners’ to bring it about. It listed details of where to meet and Theo quickly took note of the street address. Theo reveled in their success and carefully looked around for any other clue.
But all they found was the post repeated on multiple racist sites. Feeling they were done, they promptly disconnected and the strange realm of the Internet vanished from around them. Staci would be thrilled when she saw this!
◆◆◆
Darcy Garcia stepped into her bedroom after a long, draining day at work. Lots of pushy customers, some of them demanding to “see your manager!” like so many entitled little pricks. She tossed her coat onto her bed in the dark room when she suddenly noticed the feminine figure standing near the window. Terror struck her immediately.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?” she demanded.
“Relax, it’s just me,” Staci’s voice answered. “Sorry for giving you a start, but I need to be discrete.”
“Staci? “ Darcy calmed down significantly. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone for days. I’ve tried calling….”
“I’ve been facing a lot of complications recently involving the Black Sun situation.”
“Ohh… are you okay?”