by Andy Nadir
He turned around, and entered the hotel.
The blacksmith lashed out with its foot, throwing Leah back a bit, and smashed one of the hotel’s windows. It vaulted through, and disappeared.
When they had both left, the construct loped back to its place on the roof and froze.
Abby rubbed her stomach. “I’m pissed he went without us.”
Leah nodded. “Yeah! Why didn’t Alyosha take us with him? He isn’t stronger than us.”
“I’m going next time.” Connor stated.
“I’m not. I only joined this because you guys were doing it and it looked fun. I’m not a fighter.”
“If we can’t beat him, he’ll never let us come. He had to somehow leave the island, but not actually set foot outside with his own body.”
“Maybe he sent some constructs out?” Logan suggested.
“But that wouldn’t be him fighting, it would be constructs. How did he go with them?” Leah asked.
“Maybe he found a way to transfer his mind into a construct?” Logan asked.
Leah frowned. “That would definitely work. And, he was in his room all day today. I bet that’s when he did it!”
Abby grinned. “Great! We go to his room and apprehend him. Then, we don’t let him leave until he lets us come with him!”
Chapter Nineteen
“How are we going to stop him from leaving?” Connor asked.
“I could poke him with my claws until he lets us come?” Leah suggested.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. He is just as powerful as you guys. What if he wants to get rid of you, and uses the wrong hand?”
An image of dissolving to a ball of Malice flashed through Connor’s head.
“Uh, maybe we should just ask?”
“But he wouldn’t learn his lesson!” Abby said.
“Do we have to be the ones to teach it to him?” Logan asked.
“Who else will?” Leah asked.
“Does it bloody matter? He was killing demons! There was nothing done wrong!”
“I’m not going to attack him. I’ll just ask him if I can go next time.” Connor said.
He headed off to Alyosha’s hotel room.
Leah sighed. “I guess we don’t have a choice.” They all headed towards Alyosha’s room.
**********
“Those people are crazy.” Alyosha muttered.
He held a ball of Malice and Skyfire in his hands. He pressed them together, and formed a glove like his own.
He held it up for inspection. It seemed identical to the ones he wore. He went to try it on, but swooned.
“I’m using too much energy…” He muttered sleepily.
He stumbled out of his chair, but didn’t make it to his bed. He plopped down against the edge of the bed, and fell asleep with the third glove in his hands.
**********
Leah knocked on the door of room number one. There was no answer.
“You think he’s hiding from us?” Connor asked.
“No, he isn’t the type to do that. He’s probably concentrating.”
“Oh. Let’s just go in then.” Abby said.
Logan shook his head wildly. “No! If he isn’t paying attention and we walk in, he could think we were enemies and attack us with malice. Besides, he could be taking a shower…”
“He isn’t that strong to be worried about.” Abby said.
Logan nodded. “We’re all dangerous. It would be a bad idea to surprise anyone.”
“Well, we have to talk to him. Just get ready to duck I guess.” Leah said.
“Wait! He could be taking a shower!” Logan said again.
“Whatever. He can grab a towel.” Abby said.
Connor took out a water bottle and formed a key. He opened the door, and they crept inside.
Alyosha was propped up against the bed, and appeared to be sleeping.
“We could ambush him now.” Abby suggested.
“You’re supposed to be the mature one here!” Logan hissed.
“He has another one of his gloves.” Leah noted.
“He was probably working on Baal’s weapon.” Logan said.
“We should just leave him alone.” Connor said, and turned to leave.
Leah grabbed the edge of his shirt. “But then he won’t take us to fight the demons the next time he goes!”
“What are we going to do? Just wait here until he wakes up?” Connor asked.
Abby headed into his bathroom, and filled the empty trash can with water. She walked back to them, and dumped it over Alyosha.
Logan yelped, and dove for cover.
Alyosha’s eyes snapped open. One burned a deep black while the other a quiet yellow.
His staff appeared in his hands, and he lunged forward blindly, scythe swinging.
Leah ducked.
“Abby! What the hell did you do that for?” Logan yelled.
“I had to wake him up somehow.”
Alyosha froze. Connor stood at the doorway, his eyes closed in concentration.
“I’m holding him. The only thing that can move is his mouth. Maybe he’ll come to his senses.”
“Well, I guess you could say this is payback for not taking us with him.” Leah grinned.
Sweat dripped down Connors face. “Guys, he is really straining against my power. I’m not sure I can hold him for much longer, maybe another few minutes.”
Leah slowly waked up to him and prodded him with a claw. “Alyosha? We beat you, so can we come with you to fight the zombies the next time you go?”
There was a quiet growl in his throat.
“Connor can hold you like this until you agree.” Leah lied.
His face grew more composed.
“You woke me up by dumping cold water on me, then had Connor take control over the water in me. You fight like a cheater, and expect to allow me to give you command of one of my battalions?
Leah shrugged. “You don’t fight fair in real life.”
“You’re shifted right now, right?”
Leah nodded. “Yes, why?”
“Because I’m just pissed, I don’t want to kill you.” He said as the blacksmith swung his hammer down like a golf club.
There was a loud bang, and Leah was thrown into the wall. Connor lost his concentration, and he fell backward.
“Get the hell out of my room.” He growled.
“Alyosha, we just want to come with you hand fight the demons! We feel the same way you do!”
The blacksmith strode to Leah, and picked her up.
“Are you ok?” He asked.
Leah groaned. “That hurt less than I expected it to.”
“Good for you. Get out of my room. All of you. You want to fight zombies? Find your own way. Pay someone to get me to build a construct and buy it off him. I don’t care. But don’t ask me to give it to you.”
The blacksmith walked over to the door, and placed Leah outside.
The rest of them quietly left as well. The blacksmith walked to the door.
“The Master is just tired. You chose a bad time to aggravate him. But, he pretty much just told you to hire someone to be a middleman to get your suit of armor.”
The blacksmith slammed the door shut, leaving them standing in the hall.
“That went well.” Logan said.
Abby sighed. “Wonderfully.”
Chapter Twenty
“Baal should be here soon. Connor, get ready to get rid of the demons.” Chuck said.
Connor nodded just as a flood of demons began to fall into the shop.
They picked themselves up, and staggered out of the building to pile up around it.
The stream continued for another ten minutes, and suddenly stopped.
Connor led the last of the demons out of the shop, and collapsed to the floor.
Baal stepped through the gate. “Your necromancer needs more practice.” He stated.
“I’m not a necromancer!” Connor wheezed.
Alyosha strode u
p to Baal.
“Here is your sword.”
He lunged forward, and slammed the Skyfire and Malice sword through Baal’s chest.
Baal staggered back, his hands feebly grasping at the sword.
“Remove your enchantment from us, and drop the act. I didn’t hit anything vital.”
Baal grinned slightly, and dropped his hands to his side. He stepped backwards, and Alyosha left the sword embedded in him.
“What are you doing?” Abby asked, taking a step towards Alyosha.
“How did you know?” Baal asked.
LK flew up to Alyosha. “I was in Hell for a thousand years. I know the stench of a demon curse.”
Baal glared at LK. “You will regret this.”
Alyosha stepped forward, and grabbed the sword.
“Remove the curse from all of us now. It either ends when you tell it to, or when you die.”
“You cannot kill a demon, mortal.”
“I can send one back to hell for a few thousand years.” Alyosha replied.
Baal gave Alyosha and LK a look of pure hate, and waved his hand. He mumbled a few words under his breath.
The smell of brimstone came again, Leah winced.
She rubbed at her head. “What the heck was that?”
Alyosha tossed Baal a glove. “Leave here, and do not come back.
Baal pulled the sword out of himself, spraying blood everywhere. He glared at them one last time, and disappeared.
“Did…we try to attack you for no reason last night?” Abby asked. She sat down on the floor.
Alyosha grunted. “It was a curse. Baal made you want to attack me, and weakened your powers greatly. By more than three quarters. He made me tired and anger more easily. I am not sure why. He also gave power to my Malice builder on top of the shop.”
“I didn’t want to attack you.” Logan said.
“But you helped. It doesn’t matter. We should be more careful around demons.”
“Where were you the whole time?” Logan asked Chuck.
“Ah…” He glanced at Alyosha.
Alyosha nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I was enchanting soldiers Alyosha made for you guys to use.”
“Well, Crap.” Connor said.
“We should take this as a lesson. LK can check us over every time a demon comes in here.” Chuck said.
LK nodded. “By the way, we’re stuck in here. There is a pile of demons taller than this shop around us.”
“I’m too tired to do anything. Can’t we just wait an hour for them to disappear?” Connor asked.
“They could each have one hundred gold coins on them. We would be killed by an avalanche of gold.” Abby said dryly.
“Who’s going to have one hundred pieces of gold to their name?” Leah asked.
“Anyone who can afford to buy a house.” Logan said.
“How much is a gold coin worth?”
“It ranges on its size. If it is the standard size, then ten dollars.” Logan replied.
“It has to be worth more than that!” Abby said.
“If you were to trade it in, it might be worth more like one hundred. Don’t forget, gold isn’t so rare in the…supernatural community.”
“It’s hardly supernatural. That’s vampires and stuff.” Leah said.
“Do you have a better way to describe it?” Logan asked.
“Leah could dig us out of here.” Alyosha suddenly said.
They turned to him.
“What are you talking about?” Leah asked.
“You could easily push the zombies out of the way in your shifted form.”
“I don’t think I can push a few hundred bodies.”
“Plague demons can rip people apart. That is more than enough strength. Just try.” Alyosha said.
She shrugged, and walked up to the door. Alyosha took the handle, and twisted it.
“Don’t put all your power into it. You don’t want to punch holes in them.”
Leah shifted, and gave him a nod.
Alyosha yanked the door open, and Leah quickly threw her shoulder against the mass of demons.
There was a muffled thump, and the mountain of demons shifted away from them a little.
Leah shoved it again, and they gained a few feet.
“Ok, hit it a bit harder.” Alyosha said.
“I can’t!”
“Yes you can. I saw these things rip a house into pieces.” Alyosha replied.
“Maybe I don’t have their full power!”
He sighed, and knelt down next to her.
“What are you doing?” Leah asked.
“I promise to buy you new clothing after this.” He said.
“Ah…what?”
Alyosha suddenly grabbed her ankles, and spun her around. He lugged her towards the pile of zombies, and she yelped.
Her arms instinctively crossed in front of her face, and she slammed into the wall.
Her crossed arms impacted the demons, and they were thrown in every direction.
“I can see the sunlight again.” Alyosha noted dryly.
Leah picked herself up from the ground.
“What. The. Hell.”
“What? It worked, and I said I would buy you new clothes.”
Leah pushed a severed arm off her shoulder.
“That was disgusting.”
“Bah. It will disappear in…about five minutes.”
One of the demons shimmered, and faded away. In its place laid a few coins and a toothbrush.
“A homeless demon that brushes its teeth?” Abby asked in disbelief.
Chuck shrugged. “We all have our weird ones.”
The rest of the demons disappeared as well, each leaving behind a pile of possessions.
The grime disappeared off of Leah along with the demons.
“See? All gone.” Alyosha said cheerfully.
“Next time, I’m throwing you into the pile of zombies.” Leah replied.
“I would just splat against them.”
“You would deserve it.” Leah grumbled.
“Stop pouting. You weren’t trying to use your powers on your own. I just had to help you.”
“Let’s go to the soldiers already. We’re wasting time.” Chuck said.
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned that I was just thrown into a pile of dead bodies?” Leah asked.
“Nope. You could probably be thrown into a tank and not be hurt.”
“I would If the tank ran over me.”
“Then don’t let the tank run over you. Come on.” Alyosha said.
They headed to his room, and he revealed several soldiers.
“Choose one. I don’t care which. Then get into one of the jets and just follow LK.”
Leah picked up one of the women soldiers. “Where is this one’s weapons?”
“Your abilities stay with you. I think they are up here,” Alyosha tapped his head, “Not here.” He pointed at his chest.
Leah shrugged. “This one will work for me then.”
Connor picked up a Roman soldier with a rectangular shield and a spear. “I always wanted one of these things.” He said, tapping a finger against the spear.
He jerked his hand away. “This is sharp!” He accused.
Alyosha nodded. “How would you stab anything if it wasn’t?”
Abby picked up a soldier with several bags and a large broadsword. “This weapon looks like mine.”
Alyosha nodded. “Yep. That one is yours. The bags have a bunch of things you can animate.”
“Do I have one?” Logan asked eagerly.
“I thought you didn’t fight.” Leah said.
“Well, that’s because I can’t. I don’t have any fighting abilities.”
“This one doesn’t take any skill to use.” Alyosha passed him a figure holding a wide nosed gun connected to a large box on its back.
“This looks a lot like a flamethrower.” Logan said.
“Just don’t point it at anyone on our side.”
Alyosha warned.
He summoned up several balls of power, and sent them into the constructions.
“Remember. Get in the jets there.” He pointed at the toylike planes.
He exhaled heavily, and Leah felt a rush as her mind slammed into the figures.
Instantly, her ears were filled with shouts and commands.
“Scout team seven reporting in! There’s a group of humans hiding in a gun shop! They have managed to hold the demons off so far, but they’re going to be overrun soon! I need backup to take the demons out!”
“Agreed. Twenty men coming your way.” A Centurion replied.
She looked up to see Alyosha looming over her.
“Testing.” Abby said.
“Commander! Welcome aboard.” A Centurion said.
“Who, me?” Abby asked.
“Yes, Commander Life.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “Who gave me that codename?”
“That would be General Snake, ma’am.”
Abby glared at Alyosha.
He scooped Leah, Logan, Connor, and Abby up and deposited them next to the jets.
“I’ll meet you at the bank. It’s our refugee spot. Follow LK.” He said, and disappeared along with Chuck.
“Is there anywhere we are needed?” Logan asked.
“No, Commander Brain. You should all come to the refugee defense station immediately so you can take charge of your unit.”
There was a roar next to Logan as a jet started up and flew off.
Chapter Twenty One
Leah could see the small form of a construct piloting it.
“How often do reinforcement units arrive?” She asked.
“About one man every hour, Commander Slayer.”
“Hold up. Slayer? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You are the slayer of Demons. You punched out hundreds of them a few minutes ago.” The centurion replied.
Leah groaned. “How do you know about that?”
“We have air units returning to the island with dead demons.” He replied.
Leah shook her head. “I need a cooler name.”
“Let’s go. We can talk later.” Logan said.
He hopped into one of the jets, and pulled the top down over himself.
Leah and Connor climbed into their jets as well.
When Abby had entered her Jet, LK took off. “Follow me!”
“How do I turn this on?” Leah asked.
She pressed the throttle forward, and blasted out of the open window.
“Oh shoot!” She yelled, her cry lost in the wind.
“Slayer! Pull the throttle back a bit!” Alyosha commanded.
Leah edged the lever back, and felt herself slow down.
“Your planes are dangerous.” She muttered.
“Just follow LK.” Abby said.
Three jets pulled up next to her.
One spun in a slow circle.
“Whee! Barrel roll!” Logan called.