Loyalty Oath

by Edmund Hughes

  A crash came from the side of the ballroom as one of the windows shattered. Jack risked a glance to the side and saw that Ryoko had made it through the town to join the fight on their behalf. She flashed a smile at him as she shot a heavy blast of water at the Inquisitor incarnate. It tried to counter with flames and was quickly overwhelmed.

  The Mithridian incarnate lashed out with its tongue again, and this time, Jack had an idea. He didn’t try to dodge out of the way. Instead, he shifted to let the tongue wrap around his shoulder, where his shirt offered a small amount of protection from the drugged saliva. He risked grabbing the tongue directly with his palm and gave it a hard pull, sending the incarnate sailing through the air toward him.

  A single slash from his Spectral Sword severed the monster at the waist.

  “Down to ten,” he called, to Mezolak. “Soon to be nine.”

  Mira and Ryoko were winning the fight against the fire incarnate without much difficulty. Jack turned his attention to Mezolak directly as he stepped forward, still shaking off the dizzying effects of the Mithridian incarnate’s strange saliva.

  “Reese,” said Mezolak. “If you would be so kind as to kill him for me.”

  Reese folded her arms, and gave a small shake of her head. “I don’t think so. I’m a practical girl, and I never enjoyed serving you all that much to begin with. It’s too close of a fight for me to bet on a winner, so I think I’ll do the intelligent thing and stay out of it.”

  She waved a hand to her cats, who rose and followed her around the edge of the ballroom. Jack met her gaze, and she blew him a kiss.

  “Reese!” shouted Mezolak. “Get back here.”

  She didn’t stop. Mezolak sneered, mastering the anger in his expression after a few moments.

  “So be it,” he said, through gritted teeth. “I don’t mind doing my own dirty work. Prepare yourself, mortal.”

  There was a tense moment as the two of them faced off against each other, and despite the noise outside, the room felt dead silent. Mira and Ryoko had defeated the Inquisitor incarnate and looked expectantly at Jack, waiting for instruction.

  “Go help Katie,” he said to them. “This is my fight.”

  In truth, neither of them were as powerful as he was. While it was possible that they might be able to help him against Mezolak, it was equally likely that the demon would find some way to exploit their presence and use them against him.

  Mira and Ryoko hesitated for a moment and then left without another word. They trusted him, and now it was time for him to prove himself worthy of that trust.

  “You’ll have to hold him down for what I have planned,” Adana whispered into his ear as she materialized next to him.

  Jack raised an eyebrow at her, but he didn’t want to speak directly and reveal anything to Mezolak.

  “He can’t see me, mortal,” said Adana. “Worry not. My brother does not expect what is to come.”

  Jack brought his sword up to a guard stance and waited, watching Mezolak carefully. It was still hard to meet the demon’s eyes. His father’s eyes. The fight was as much a battle of his own limitations as it was one of strength and weapons.

  “After I kill you,” said Mezolak. “I plan on taking your companions for myself. They’ll serve me well, just as you did, mortal. I’ll make sure they’ll enjoy it.”

  Jack rushed forward, letting out a wordless battle cry as he swung his sword at Mezolak’s shoulder. The demon blocked it with Zedekiah’s Scepter, which deflected the attack without taking any visible damage.

  He’d fought against Mezolak once before, and he also understood what the scepter could do. Mezolak had corrupted it in order to make the incarnates, but Jack had no doubt that even a single blow from it would be powerful enough to render him helpless.

  The demon swung the scepter at his head. Jack brought his sword up to block, only realizing that the attack had been a feint a split second too late. Mezolak’s other hand shot forward, releasing several crackling bolts of crimson lightning. It was the demon’s preferred spell, and it hurt. It really hurt.

  Jack’s clothes were immediately singed, and he was knocked off his feet and across the room by the blast. He had the wherewithal to cast Shadow Levitation as he fell, cushioning his fall and keeping himself from landing on his head.

  Mezolak took full advantage of the opening, charging forward at Jack before he could regain his equilibrium. Jack felt a kick slam into his temple, knocking his skull to the side with enough force to make his neck feel like it was about to snap.

  He rolled to the side and hurried to his feet in time to parry another strike from the scepter, and another after that. Jack lunged forward, stabbing with his sword. Mezolak dodged to the side, and his eyes flashed red as he unleashed more lightning directly into Jack’s chest.

  He couldn’t stifle the scream that escaped his lips, though the limited amount of air left in his lungs prevented it from being that loud. Jack staggered backward, feeling his vampiric regeneration working overtime to mitigate the damage.

  “You don’t have to die, Jack,” said Mezolak. “We could discuss new terms. You could form a new deal with me.”

  Jack gritted his teeth. He slashed at Mezolak’s chest. The demon deflected the attack with ease and punched him hard in the face in response. He was being toyed with, and he knew it. If Mezolak wanted to end the fight, he could do it at any time.

  Jack took a new approach, using his Shadow Levitation to rise up into the air. The ballroom had a high ceiling, along with several chandeliers. Unfortunately, Jack had no effective ranged attack to speak of, and trying to flee upward only left Mezolak with ample opportunity to exploit the range advantage his red lightning spell gave him.

  A bolt of it caught Jack’s leg, and he felt the muscles in his calf and thigh seizing and cramping. He had to lean against one of the walls as he came back to the floor, panting and feeling pathetic. Feeling like it was only a matter of time before he lost, and disappointed everyone at the critical moment.

  “Would it really be so bad, mortal?” asked Mezolak. “You’d be able to live in your penthouse. I’d only make you kill when it was necessary. You’d still have a chance at life.”

  Jack stumbled backward, hoping his expression looked as destitute as he felt. Mezolak grinned and moved to close the distance to him. The demon took three steps forward. He was almost where Jack needed him to be.

  “A chance at life?” asked Jack. “Just what would I have to agree to, this time?”

  Mezolak let out a single, amused chuckle, and took the final step forward that Jack had been waiting for. He didn’t hesitate. He hurled his Spectral Sword up at the chandelier directly above Mezolak. The demon only realized what was happening as it became too late to do anything about it.

  The heavy, crystal-studded chandelier landed with a crunch on top of Mezolak’s body, knocking Zedekiah’s Scepter loose from his hand. Jack was there in a second, conjuring tendrils and holding the demon down with both his magic and his own weight.

  “Now, Adana!” he shouted.

  The demoness appeared at his side. Mezolak still apparently couldn’t see her, but a horrible expression took hold on his face as Adana rammed one of her ethereal hands into his chest. Jack watched in fascination as she began pulling upward, dragging the ghostly outline of Mezolak’s true, demonic form halfway out of the body that had been his host for so long.

  She struggled with it. Mezolak’s head and part of his upper body were loose, but he was connected to the body of James Farmoore in other places, like a bandage that had fused into a wound. Adana let out a grunt of exertion and met Jack’s eye.

  “They cannot be separated, mortal,” she said. “They have lived as one for too long.”

  “Jack!” The voice of James Farmoore, Jack’s father, was loud and strained. “Listen to me, Jack! It’s too late.”

  “No…” said Jack. “Fight him. Push him out of you! Damn it, it can’t be too late!”

  “It’s too late,” said his fath
er, a second time. “For me. But not for you. Finish it. Kill the demon, Jack. Kill me.”

  “No!” shouted Jack. “I won’t!”

  His father met his gaze and held it as a single tear slid down the line of his cheek.

  “I love you, son,” he said. “Do the right thing. Live a good life.”

  Jack let out a shaky breath, feeling the painful lump in his throat constrict as he summoned his Spectral Sword. He closed his eyes and did what needed to be done. He stabbed his sword through the heart of both his father and Mezolak, and he heard them both scream as they died in unison.

  The experience left Jack drained and in pain, but the sound of the battle continuing to rage outside was enough to spur him into action. He stepped over his father’s body and found where Zedekiah’s Scepter had fallen. He picked it up cautiously, feeling no obvious way to harness its power and put an end to the plague of the incarnates.

  “Adana,” he said. “What do you know about this weapon? Can you help me with it?”

  “I’m afraid it’s out of my area of expertise, mortal,” she said. “You would need to ask someone with experience in mortal wizardry about it.”

  Jack scowled. Katie and Margaret were too far away, and that was assuming they could take the time away from the fight to answer his questions. He blinked, realizing there was someone else he could ask.

  He pulled Peter’s staff free from his back and reached out to the imprint contained within. Peter’s ghost appeared immediately, standing on his left side. The ghost surveyed the scene around him over the course of a couple of seconds, and his expression grew very grim.

  “I am sorry, Jack,” he said. “My grandson. No one should have to go through what you just did.”

  “There’s no time,” he said. “I have to stop the incarnates. The key to their creation, and to controlling them, is with this scepter, but I can’t figure out how to unlock it.”

  “Very well,” said the ghost. “Take hold of it in one hand, and allow me to do what I can.”

  Jack held Peter’s staff in one hand and Zedekiah’s Scepter in the other. Peter’s imprint took a slow breath and closed his eyes.

  “This is my final gift to you,” said the ghost. “I wish I’d taken a different path with you in life. Or at least, I’m sure my original form would have wished it.”

  “What are you about to do?” asked Jack.

  Peter’s imprint smiled and said nothing more. Jack felt both the staff and his scepter heating him in his hands. He let out a surprised shout as both of them burst into supernaturally bright light, exploding like overheated lightbulbs and showering the room with shards of smoldering wood and metal.

  The sounds of fighting outside instantly came to a stop. Jack took a few breaths, looking back at his father’s body and then out the window. The sun was rising. It was over.

  CHAPTER 47

  Stepping out into the street reminded Jack of the instant, rushing relief of waking up from an extended nightmare, except the aftermath was still apparent. The town was still destroyed. In the distance, he could see his companions slowly making their way toward him, with Margaret and the rest of the reinforcements from the Order of Chaldea following alongside them.

  Sheriff Jessie, along with a good number of townspeople that Jack recognized, were stepping out from the entrance of the municipal building. They all looked dazed and confused, which was understandable. Jack was reeling from all that had happened, and he’d viewed it all from the perspective of someone familiar with the supernatural.

  “Jack…” Sheriff Jessie suddenly seemed very young, and very girlish. “Is it finished? Is it safe?”

  “Yes and yes,” said Jack. “Hopefully. I don’t think Mezolak had anyone else with him, other than Reese and the incarnates.”

  He knew that Jessie probably interpreted what he’d just told her as complete gibberish, but he respected her and felt like he owed her the truth. In the street nearby, Jack saw a pile of ash in the shape of a slightly monsterish person that hadn’t been there before. He smiled, imagining what it must have been like for Katie and the others to literally watch their opponents crumble to dust as a result of what Peter’s imprint had done to Zedekiah’s Scepter.

  “For once, the fact that most of the town left after the storm actually worked in our favor,” said Jessie. “I managed to evacuate almost everyone into the municipal building. A few died before I could reach them, but we fared okay.”

  She nodded, though Jack could see the pain and guilt in her expression. Dave Stinson, the former mayor of Lestaron Island, was among the dead. The town would need someone to guide them forward now, more than ever. Jessie, by default, was going to be thrust into that role. But she wouldn’t be alone.

  “We’ll recover,” said Jack. “I’ll be here every step of the way.”

  He smiled, thinking of how far he could stretch his inheritance if it came to buying up buildings and restoring them for the sake of the community. The last thing he’d imagined himself becoming—a week or even a year earlier—was a savvy investor.

  Margaret had broken off from the rest of her associates, and she nodded to Jack and Jessie as she approached.

  “Sheriff Jessie,” said Margaret. “I’d like to officially lend the Order of Chaldea’s aid to you in your island’s time of need.”

  She stepped in closer to converse with Jessie, and Jack slipped away, spotting Mira, Katie, and Ryoko running toward him. He grinned and held his arms out wide as the three beautiful women pulled him into an embrace so tight that it made him gasp.

  “Jesus, Jack,” said Katie. “That was way too fucking close.”

  “I had everything under control,” said Jack. “It all went according to plan.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it did,” said Mira, with a very obvious eye roll.

  “We’re all safe,” said Ryoko. “That’s what matters most.”

  They squeezed him again, and Jack felt three sets of hands running across his body, checking for injuries and caressing his cheeks. He reluctantly pulled away from them as he looked further down the road and saw Reese being led along in shackles. Her cats were nowhere in sight.

  “I’ll be right back,” said Jack. He walked over to the two members of the Order escorting Reese and raised a hand to them. “Hold up. There must be some sort of misunderstanding here. This one is with me.”

  The two men looked at each other and then back at Jack. There was a newfound respect for him in their expressions, but he wasn’t any less surprised when they gave him a nod and took the cuffs off her.

  “So I’m with you now?” said Reese in a teasing voice as soon as her former guards were out of earshot.

  “The mansion has room for you, if you need a place to stay,” said Jack. “I doubt the airport is going to be up and running for at least a week.”

  Reese nodded slowly. “Thank you. I don’t exactly have anywhere pressing to be going, right now. Maybe I’ll stay… for a bit.”

  Katie, Ryoko, and Mira were all pretending as though they weren’t listening to the conversation, with varying degrees of success. Ryoko and Mira stepped forward as soon as Jack’s conversation with Reese was over, introducing themselves and shaking her hand.

  Katie was watching Jessie and Margaret, who were in the middle of a discussion about what the island needed most over the next few days. Jack moved to stand next to her, raising an eyebrow.

  “The island can use all the help it can get,” he said. “I’m alright with this.”

  “So am I,” said Katie. “It’s a good thing Lesser Town isn’t currently at its full population. It will make for less dream weaving to clean things up.”

  Jack frowned as he considered the implication of her words. Dream weaving was the method through which the Order of Chaldea kept the normal world in ignorance of the supernatural. It was only rarely necessary in the modern age, with Photoshop and the ambient lens of disbelief through which most people viewed incredible claims on the internet.

  It would mean tha
t Jessie and all of the other grateful townspeople wouldn’t remember much more about what had happened over the past few days than the vague recollection a person might have about an intense dream. It was necessary but still tragic, in a way.

  “I guess,” said Jack.

  “Trust me, it’s for the best,” said Katie. “Both for the sanity of the folk left on the island and for the prospect of rebuilding. If people were genuinely allowed to go on thinking that a bunch of actual monsters ransacked and took over the town, Lestaron Island would be abandoned overnight.”

  “I’d stay,” said Jack.

  Katie gave him a conspiratorial smile. “So would I. But you get what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah, I do,” said Jack.

  He turned and looked back at the mayor’s mansion. Mezolak’s body still lay on the floor in the ballroom. His father’s body. It was hard for him to think about, but he knew it was something he couldn’t ignore, even for the moment.

  “We’ll have to take care of the dead before we do anything,” Jack said, both to Margaret and Sheriff Jessie. “There’s at least a few scattered around town.”

  “Of course,” said Margaret. “I’ll get my people right on it. I’m assuming there’s at least one in the mayor’s residence.”

  Jack nodded, and blessedly, Margaret didn’t ask anything more of him. He could see that same respect in his eyes that he’d noticed while dealing with her underlings. He got the sense that he wouldn’t be having nearly as much trouble with the Order of Chaldea moving forward.

  Jessie reached out and took Jack’s hand into her own. She held his gaze as she gave it a tight, appreciative squeeze.

  “Thank you,” she said. “You should head back to your home. Both to rest and to make sure that it’s still standing.”

  Jack chuckled at that. “You’re absolutely right.”

  He stepped away from Margaret and Jessie, falling into step with his companions. He put an arm around Mira and Ryoko and flashed a grin at Katie.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”